Technologically facilitated remoteness increases killing behavior

- An ostensible insect-killing machine was controlled either locally or remotely.
- Participants killed more when they were in a different place than their targets.
- Remoteness reduced emotional reactions to the extent that there was more killing.
- Physical distance did not influence killing beyond the effect of remoteness.

Technology now enables killing from remote locations. Killing remotely might be psychologically easier than killing face to face, which could promote more killing behavior and incur less severe emotional consequences. The current study manipulated the medium via which participants completed an ostensible ladybug-killing task. Participants who were in the same room as the insects killed fewer of them than participants who killed remotely via videoconference. Remoteness exerted an indirect effect on self-reported emotional consequences of killing. There was no additional effect of varying the ostensible location of the remote targets (same building vs. different state). This research emphasizes the importance of considering the psychological consequences of the remoteness technology affords.