Trigger warnings, a popular device of the woke Left, alert readers to potentially troubling material in some content. Do such warnings help, troubled Leftists? A study, “A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Trigger Warnings, Content Warnings, and Content Notes,” by Victoria M. E. Bridgland, Payton J. Jones & Benjamin W. Bellet, Flinders University, Harvard University, has examined the empirical psychological literature on this question, and has concluded that such warnings don’t do as advertised. “We present the results of a meta-analysis of all empirical studies on the effects of these warnings. Overall, we found that warnings have no effect on affective responses to negative material nor on educational outcomes (i.e., comprehension). However, warnings reliably increase anticipatory affect. Findings on avoidance were mixed, suggesting either that warnings have no effect on engagement with material, or that they increase engagement with negative material under specific circumstances.” Thus, trigger warnings are in a way, self-undermining.
US comedian from the Left, Bill Mahar, has waded in on this topic, saying that trigger warnings are a sign of national weakness, and are like wearing masks on one’s mind. Well put; nice post-Covid mandate metaphor.