Table 1.

Descriptive overview of four experimental groups (n = 2,490)

	Group 1 (close & like-minded victim)	Group 2 (close & differently minded victim)	Group 3 (not close & like-minded victim	Group 4 (not close & differently minded victim
Wording	Think about a situation in which your close colleague gives a public interview. You completely agree with the views given in the interview. After the interview he/she will get a death threat personally on social media	Think about a situation in which your close colleague gives a public interview. You completely disagree with the views given in the interview. After the interview he/she will get a death threat personally on social media	Think about a situation in which an unknown person from your field gives a public interview. You completely agree with the views given in the interview. After the interview he/she will get a death threat personally on social media	Think about a situation in which an unknown person from your field gives a public interview. You completely disagree with the views given in the interview. After the interview he/she will get a death threat personally on social media
n	593	664	612	621
M (SD) anxiety	30.97 (7.57)	31.53 (7.31)	28.64 (7.65)	28.88 (7.12)
M (SD) suggested countermeasures	2.33 (1.12)	2.42 (1.21)	2.20 (1.03)	2.23 (1.10)