Do cyberattacks fuel the politics of threat? By what mechanism does it do so? To address these questions, we employ a technological and physiological experiment (2 × 2) involving a simulated cyberattack. Participants were randomly assigned to “cyberattack” (treatment) or “no attack” (control) conditions. We find that cyber-attacks make people more likely to express threat perceptions; we suggest salivary cortisol, a measure of stress, as the mechanism bridging cyber and the politics of threat. Contrary to existing evidence, salivary cortisol is the mechanism that translates simulated exposure to cyberattacks into political threat perceptions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
LernerJS, GonzalezRM, SmallDA, et al.Effects of fear and anger on perceived risks of terrorism a national field experiment. Psychological Science, 2003; 14:144–150.
2.
TuckerP, PfefferbaumB, NorthCS, et al.Biological correlates of direct exposure to terrorism several years post disaster. Annual Clinical Psychiatry, 2010; 22:186–195.
3.
CanettiD, GrossLM, Waismel-ManorI. (2016) Immune from cyber fire? The psychological & physiological effects of cyber war. In AllhoffF, HenschkeA, StrawserBJ, eds. Binary Bullets: The Ethics of Cyberwarfare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 157–176.
4.
ArielyG. (2008) Knowledge management, terrorism, and cyber-terrorism. In JanczewskiL, ColarikA, eds. Cyberwarfare and cyber-terrorism. IGI Global, Hershey, PA: pp. 7–16.
5.
McDermottR. (2010) Decision making under uncertainty. Proceedings of a Workshop Deterring Cyberattacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options for U.S. Policy. National Academies Press, Washington, DC: pp. 227–241.
6.
Canetti-NisimD, HalperinE, SharvitK, et al.A new stress-based model of political extremism personal exposure to terrorism, psychological distress, and exclusionist political attitudes. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2009; 53:363–389.
7.
HarrellE, LangtonL. (2013) Victims of identity theft, 2012. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, p. 26.
SharpT, Shreve-NeigerA, FremouwW, et al.Exploring the psychological and somatic impact of identity theft. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2004; 49:131–136.
10.
SinclairJ, AntoniusD. (2012) The psychology of terrorism fears. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
11.
BonannoGA, GaleaS, BucciarelliA, et al.Psychological resilience after disaster: New York City in the aftermath of the September 11th Terrorist Attack. Psychological Science, 2006; 17:181–186.
12.
BleichA, GelkopfM, SolomonZ. Exposure to terrorism, stress-related mental health symptoms, and coping behaviours among a nationally representative sample in Israel. JAMA, 2004; 290:612–620.
13.
BerrebiC, KlorEF. Are voters sensitive to terrorism? Direct evidence from the Israeli electorate. American Political Science Review, 2008; 102:279–301.
14.
PfefferCR, AltemusM, HeoM, et al.Salivary cortisol and psychopathology in adults bereaved by the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 2009; 39:215–226.
15.
DekelS, Ein-DorT, GordonKM, et al.Cortisol and PTSD symptoms among male and female high-exposure 9/11 survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2013; 26:621–625.
16.
SchlotzW, HammerfaldK, EhlertU, et al.Individual differences in the cortisol response to stress in young healthy men: testing the roles of perceived stress reactivity and threat appraisal using multiphase latent growth curve modeling. Biological Psychology, 2011; 87:257–264.
17.
KirschbaumC, HellhammerDH. Salivary cortisol in psychoneuroendocrine research: recent developments and applications. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 1994; 19:313–333.
18.
UmedaT, HiramatsuR, IwaokaT, et al.Use of saliva for monitoring unbound free cortisol levels in serum. Clinica Chimica Acta, 1981; 110:245–253.
19.
WedekindD, BandelowB, BroocksA, et al.Salivary, total plasma and plasma free cortisol in panic disorder. Journal of neural transmission (Vienna), 2000; 107:831–837.
20.
LevineA, Zagoory-SharonO, FeldmanR, et al.Measuring cortisol in human psychobiological studies. Physiology & Behavior, 2007; 90:43–53.
21.
AngeliA. (1978) The binding of glucocorticoids to human plasma proteins. In: JamesV. (ed.) The endocrine function of the human adrenal cortex. London: Academic Press, p. 155.
22.
KahnJP, RubinowDR, DavisCL, et al.Salivary cortisol: a practical method for evaluation of adrenal function. Biological Psychiatry, 1988; 23:335–349.
23.
ViningRF, McGinleyRA, MaksvytisJJ, et al.Salivary cortisol: a better measure of adrenal cortical function than serum cortisol. Annals of Clinical Biochemistry, 1983; 20 (Pt 6):329–335.
24.
GozanskyWS, LynnJS, LaudenslagerML, et al.Salivary cortisol determined by enzyme immunoassay is preferable to serum total cortisol for assessment of dynamic hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity. Clinical Endocrinology, 2005; 63:336–341.
25.
Waismel-ManorI, IferganeG, CohenH. When endocrinology and democracy collide: emotions, cortisol and voting at national elections. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2011; 21:789–795.
26.
MooreJ. Hacker group Anonymous threatens Israel with ‘Electronic Holocaust’. Newsweek, 30March2015. http://europe.newsweek.com/hacker-group-anonymous-threaten-israel-electronic-holocaust-317729?rm=eu Accessed January7, 2017.
27.
LiebelsonD. Inside Anonymous' cyberwar against the Israeli government. Mother Jones, 22July2014. www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07 anonymous-cyberattack-israel-gaza Accessed December22, 2016.
28.
SpielbergerCD, GorsuchRL, LusheneR, et al. (1983) Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
29.
MarteauTM, BekkerH. The development of a six-item short-form of the state scale of the Spielberger State-Anxiety Inventory (STAI). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2011; 31:301–306.
30.
GreenfieldDN. Psychological characteristics of compulsive internet use: a preliminary analysis. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 1999; 2:403–412.
31.
AcockAC. (2013) Discovering structural equation modeling using stata. Rev. ed. College Station, TX: Stata Press.
32.
CanettiD, Elad-StrengerJ, LaviI, GuyD, Bar-TalD. Exposure to violence, ethos of conflict and support for compromise: survey in Israel, East Jerusalem, West Bank, and in Gaza. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2017; 61:84–113.
33.
CanettiD. (2015) Explaining support for violence in wartime: individual-level exposure effect? In HalperinE, SharvitK, eds. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a social psychology perspective - celebrating the legacy of Daniel Bar-Tal, volume II. New York: Springer, pp. 151–166.
34.
NeimanJ, SmithKB, FrenchJA, et al.Voting at home is associated with lower cortisol than voting at the polls. PLoS One, 2015; 10:e0135289.
35.
DickersonSS, KemenyME. Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin, 2004; 130:355–391.
PaulhusDL, VazireS. The self-report method. Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology, 2007; 1:224–239.
38.
GravesJ, AcquistiA, AndersonR. Experimental measurement of attitudes regarding cybercrime. 13th Annual Workshop on the Economics of Information Security. Pennsylvania State University. 2014.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
