New Study Sounds the Alarm on Students’ ‘Self-Reported Cognitive Distortions,’ Support of ‘Trigger Warnings,’ and ‘Safetyism’

College student studying

A recent study examined the association between college students’ “self-reported prevalence of cognitive distortions and their endorsement of safetyism-inspired beliefs, the belief that words can harm, and the broad use of trigger warnings.”

Published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the article utilizes the definition of “safetyism” found in the book The Coddling of the American Mind, intending the term to mean a “culture that treats safety – including emotional safety – as a sacred value, which results in adherents diminished willingness to sacrifice safety for other moral or practical considerations.”

The four-person research team included three members from the University of California, Irvine, including the lead author, and one investigator from St. Edward’s University in Texas. 

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