Airport security measures and their influence on enplanement intentions: Responses from leisure travelers attending a Canadian University

Abstract

Airport security measures can be grouped into two types; standardized screening techniques, which all passengers must undergo (e.g., baggage X-rays, metal detecting scans); and elevated-risk screening (including pat-downs and strip searches) for which only a sub-set of passengers are selected. In the current study, an undergraduate sample (n = 636) was surveyed regarding the professionalism of security screening staff, as well as perceived safety, threat to dignity, and enplanement intentions, following standard and elevated-risk screening measures. Consistent with our hypotheses, perceived professionalism and safety were positively correlated with enplanement intentions, and dignity threat was negatively associated with perceived safety. As the perceived safety from the use of a security measure decreased, enplanement intentions also decreased. Notably, when a screening measure is perceived as having negative consequences (e.g., threatening one's sense of dignity) the safety of the measure is personally invalidated.