Article 1: Broadened Concepts of Harm

Question 1

bullying, trauma, sexual harassment have expanded meanings = wider range of phenomena previously overlooked

What might this lead people to do?

Answer 1

This may lead people to downplay the seriousness of the harm, consider the harm less important as societal issue, less morally
problematic

Question 2

Define concept creep

Answer 2

pattern of semantic expansion in harm-related concepts

Question 3

Show an example of a pattern of semantic expansion in harm-related concepts

Answer 3

sexual harassment in the past = threatening or bribing employees into sexual activities

now = wider range of offensive expressions, gestures, personal questions.

Question 4

What are the causes for concept creep?

Answer 4

1. A rising cultural sensitivity to harm
2. Declining prevalence of harm
3. Motivated political actors

Question 5

What are the beneficial consequences of concept creep?

Answer 5

It’s beneficial for identifying and problematizing harmful behavior previously overlooked

Question 6

What are the negative consequences of concept creep?

Answer 6

1. A lower bar for “harm” definition&raquo_space; more people identify as victims, respond disproportionately to minor adversities
2. Trivializes societal harms (people perceive it as less serious in
   their hierarchy of concerns)

Question 7

the experiments : Prototypical condition, Marginal condition, Mixed condition.

5 studies : Bullying, Trauma, Bullying Replication, Trauma Replication, Sexual Harassment.

What were the results regarding the severity of each scenario?

Answer 7

Results are all the same : participants view the assigned scenarios severity as such :

Protoypical > Mixed > Marginal

Question 8

Define prototypical condition

Answer 8

traditional, severe examples

Question 9

Define marginal condition

Answer 9

less severe, broadened
concept

Question 10

Define mixed condition

Answer 10

balance of prototypical and marginal