Borrowed Credibility: How Threats Become Coercive Through Collective Memory

This study draws on 26 in-depth interviews with U.S. election officials who received death threats to examine how participants experienced these messages. While most threats were dismissed, others produced behavioral change. Across the sample, threats referencing well-known acts of violence were seen as more imaginable. Because of this, I argue that threats gain coercive power when they tap into collective memories of harm, which increases perceived plausibility and credibility. Overall, the current model explains one mechanism through which threats can influence behavior by showing how collective memory shapes perceptions of plausibility and credibility, even when violence does not occur.