Comparing Online Surveys for Cybersecurity: SONA and MTurk

For almost every online account, people are required to create a password to protect their information online. Since many people have many accounts, they tend to create insecure passwords and re-use passwords. These insecure passwords are often easy to guess, which can lead to compromised data. It is well-known that every person has a different personality type, which can be determined using personality models such as Big Five and True Colors. This research examines if there is a link between personality type and password security among a variety of participants in two groups of participants: SONA and MTurk. Each participant in both surveys answered questions based on password security and their personality type. Our results show that participants in the MTurk survey were more likely to choose a strong password and to exhibit better security behaviors and knowledge than participants in the SONA survey. This is mostly attributed to the age difference. However, the distribution of the results was similar for both MTurk and SONA. Future surveys on cybersecurity should include both types of demographics for a more generalizable result.

People often create passwords for their accounts that are insecure. An insecure password is often easy to guess– thus, hackers can easily access their victims’ accounts. It is important for users to know how to create and manage secure passwords so they can better protect themselves from hackers. It is well-known that different users have different personality types, such as Big Five and True Colors. This research examines if there is any link between personality types and password security behavior. Each participant was shown either a matching or mismatching message based on their personality type, and it was measured whether their password security behavior changed a month later. Our results show that 66% of participants with a Green (knowledgeable and competent) personality type chose a strong password, compared to less than 50% of other personality types. Our results also demonstrate that messaging has a statistical impact on improving password security behavior.

Background: Although studies of tinnitus and personality are prevalent in tinnitus research, studies of tinnitus-related distress across personality types using the Color Code Personality Assessment are lacking. Purpose: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relationship between personality type and the reaction to tinnitus using the Color Code Personality Assessment and the Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire (TRQ). Study Sample: We conducted an online survey involving 178 participants. The survey included the TRQ to evaluate tinnitus-related distress and the Color Code Personality Assessment to determine personality type. Data Collection and Analysis: The Color Code Personality Assessment results in one of four personality colors, red, blue, white, or yellow, and focuses on how to interact and communicate with different personality subtypes. The survey was posted to 11 different social media groups on Facebook and was open for 3 months. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the effect of personality type on the TRQ score. One-sample chi-square tests were conducted to determine if the number of respondents with tinnitus-related distress was greater than chance for each personality type. Results: The one-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for personality type. Follow-up tests comprising the Bonferroni test indicated that the TRQ scores for red personality types were significantly higher than those for white personality types. Analyses using one-sample chi-square tests for each personality type indicated significant results for respondents with blue or red personality types. Conclusions: Reactions to tinnitus differed across personality types. Respondents with the red personality type reported higher tinnitus-related distress than that of respondents with the white personality type. Respondents with blue and red personality types were more likely to report bothersome tinnitus. Clinical Relevance Statement: Although various tinnitus questionnaires that assess tinnitus distress and its effect on different areas of the patient’s life are available, audiologists do not have a tool that allows insight regarding how to appropriately counsel and treat patients with tinnitus based on their reaction to it. Understanding the personality of patients and how personality will impact their reaction to tinnitus can guide the clinician’s ability to provide effective counseling, thus adding to the clinician’s skillset the ability to deliver customized treatment options to patients with tinnitus.

We performed a preliminary investigation of the relationship between the Big-five personality traits and the strength of selected and created online security passwords. Five-hundred and ten participants were recruited through MTurk and asked a) to complete a Big-five personality inventory, b) to select from a list of available passwords the one they felt was most secure, and c) to create unique, secure passwords for their own online protection. The security strength of participants' selected/created passwords was rated via Zxcvbn, and evaluated on a variety of additional security-based criteria (e.g., password length, inclusion of special characters). In all cases results failed to identify significant relationship between the strength of the selected/chosen password and any Big-five personality traits (when employing appropriately stringent control for multiple corrections). These null results suggest that other factors beyond an individual's personality may hold greater influence over the strength of selected/created online passwords. We present detailed observations and findings from our experiment, discuss potential considerations for contradictions, and suggest possibilities for future research into the password/personality relationship, including the potential use of enhanced password strength meters and tailored security nudges.

Nowadays, most users need more passwords than they can handle. Consequently, users have developed a multitude of strategies to cope with this situation. Some of these coping strategies are based on misconceptions about password security. In such cases, the users are unaware of their insecure password practices. Addressing the misconceptions is vital in order to decrease insecure coping strategies. We conducted a systematic literature review with the goal to provide an overview of the misconceptions about password security. Our literature review revealed that misconceptions exist in basically all aspects of password security. Furthermore, we developed interventions to address these misconceptions. Then, we evaluated the interventions' effectiveness in decreasing the misconceptions at three small and medium sized enterprises (SME). Our results show that the interventions decrease the overall prevalence of misconceptions significantly in the participating employees.

The objective for this study was to explore if characteristics of personality type using the Preferred Communication Style Questionnaire, in concert with the demographic characteristics of age, education, and race/ethnicity, are associated with, and help predict, individuals’ medication adherence behavior.
 Data were collected via an on-line survey, sent to a sample of adults residing in the United States, between April 28 and June 22, 2015. Out of 26,173 responses to the survey, 16,736 reported taking one or more medications and were eligible for inclusion in this study.
 The development of the Adherence Predictive Index (API) used mean Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) scores for each of eight personality types as a starting point. API scores were calculated by adding or subtracting specific values to each group’s mean MMAS-8 score based on personality type, age, education and race/ethnicity characteristics which were demonstrated to have significant effects on adherence. The weighting system was informed by linear regression, logistic regression, personality type literature, researcher experience, and previous qualitative and quantitative research. The resultant score was converted to an API score that ranged from 1 to 5 so that it would be feasible for health care providers to understand and use.
 The findings showed that an Adherence Predictive Index (API) could be developed based upon a relatively small number of questions that focus on personality type and generational, educational, and cultural experiences. It was developed in order to be a component of a comprehensive program that has the goals of (1) identifying and describing specific behavioral strategies individuals are most likely to successfully employ, (2) motivating patients by using their preferred communication style, and (3) predicting each patient’s propensity to adhere. Future research is needed to evaluate the index’s validity, sensitivity, and effectiveness in actual practice compared with other risk indices.
 
 Type: Original Research

Online personality tests have emerged due to evolving technological advances, with their popularity mainly rooted due to their ease of use and quick results. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, one of the most popular, has become the new approach to assessing personality. The user will be categorized as one of the 16 personalities described in this test, each with their own set of strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. On the other hand, academic performance is the degree of knowledge of a student and is impacted by various circumstances. Several studies have investigated the relationship between personality types and academic-related events. This became the catalyst for why the researchers aim to achieve a correlative study, utilizing the currently popular MBTI in particular. The researchers seek to determine if this test can be used for anything more than psychological feedback. Notably, the researchers’ objectives not only define the concepts of various personalities present on the test and academic performance but also determine whether there is a connection between these personality types and the student’s academic performance. To conclude, the researchers employed both physical and online surveys. These comprised the adopted 16-personality type questionnaire by Crystal Knows to determine their personality type and a form that sought the first semester grades of core and applied subjects of 294 grade 12 students, the calculated number of participants needed for the study. Following a thorough data collection procedure, the researchers arrived at the following conclusions: 1) There are a variety of MBTI types present among grade 12 students, but they can be classified into four (4) groups: Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels, and Explorers. 2) The student’s academic performance in school falls into three (3) categories: Category A (90-100), Category A (90-100), Category B (85-89), and Category C (75-84). 3) There are academic groups that excelled, particularly the Analysts and Diplomats group. Lastly, 4) No substantial correlation exists between personality types and students’ academic performance. The study’s implications can help young individuals expand their knowledge through personality tests.

BackgroundAggression against GPs has increased in the past decade. Depending on experience, interpretation, and personality, the interpretation of aggressive patient behaviour will differ among doctors.AimTo investigate how often GPs experience aggression in a 1-year time span and what the relationship is between the GP's personality (based on the 'Big Five' personality traits) and the reporting of aggression. Secondly, to investigate how personality is related to feeling safe.Design & settingFlemish (Belgian Federal State) GPs were questioned in a cross-sectional design by online survey. GPs were recruited and questioned in their professional environment.MethodOutcome measures were the 'Big Five' personality traits ('reserved' versus 'outgoing', 'compassionate' versus 'challenging', 'efficient' versus 'careless', 'confident' versus 'nervous', and 'cautious' versus 'innovative', based on Cattel's 'Big Five' model of personality), the type of aggression, the reporting of aggression, and feeling safe.ResultsBoth (n = 247) male and female doctors considered physical contact and verbal intimidation as aggression. Female doctors were more likely to consider sexual harassment as aggression. The majority of GPs were confronted with verbal aggression. More than half considered physical aggression as the most threatening. GPs with 'reserved' and 'careless' personality types were more likely to experience aggression. GPs with 'innovative', 'challenging', or 'confident' personality types were also at increased risk, but to a lesser extent than those with 'reserved' and 'careless' personalities. GPs with 'efficient' and 'innovative' personalities were more likely to report incidents. Male GPs and those with 'efficient' personalities felt safer. GPs with 'confident' and 'cautious' personalities were more likely to feel unsafe.ConclusionThe results of this study might help future interventions and support strategies (designed to prevent aggressive incidents or help GPs cope with them) to target the vulnerable groups. Further research should therefore explore the results of these data in depth and on a larger sample size.

The purpose of this paper is to explore English writing strategies according to personality types of college students. To this end, an online survey was conducted on 87 students enrolled in an university in Chungcheongnam-do. After measuring free online personality types questionnaire, participants completed the English writing strategies. The result of Bayesian independent mean t-test to find out the difference between two groups, intuitive type used more self-directed and socio/affective strategies among metacognitive strategies in English writing than the sensing type. The judging type used more metacognitive strategies and data search strategy in English writing than the perceiving type. This study suggests learning strategies and learning methods suitable for individual learners’ personality types and it is a crucial source of basic data in English writing to systematize teaching methods by personality types according to age and English proficiency.

Ransomware remains one of the most prevalent cyberthreats to individuals and businesses alike. Psychological techniques are often employed by attackers when infecting victims’ devices with ransomware in an attempt to increase the likelihood of the victims paying the ransom demand. At the same time, cybersecurity researchers are continually putting in effort to find new ways to prevent ransomware infections and victimisation from happening. Since employees and contractors are often considered to be the most frequent and well-known attack vectors, it makes sense to focus on them. Identifying factors to predict the most vulnerable population to cyberattacks can be useful in preventing or mitigating the impact of ransomware attacks. Additionally, understanding victims’ psychological traits can help us devise better solutions to recover from the attack more effectively, while at the same time, encouraging victims not to pay the ransom demand to cybercriminals. In this article, we investigated the relationship between personality types and ransomware victimisation to understand whether people with certain personality types would be more prone to becoming a ransomware victim. We also studied the behavioural and psychological effects of becoming a ransomware victim in an attempt to see whether such an experience can be used to reinforce positive cybersecurity behaviours in the future. We carried out a survey involving 880 participants, recruited through the Prolific online survey platform. First, these participants were asked to answer a set of standard questions to determine their personality type, using the Big-Five personality trait indicators. They were then asked to answer several follow-up questions regarding victimisation, as well as their feelings and views post-victimisation. We found that 9.55% ( n = 84) of the participants had been a victim of ransomware. Of these, 2.38% ( n = 2) were found to have paid the ransom. We found no compelling evidence to suggest that personality traits would influence ransomware victimisation. In other words, there are no discernible differences regarding potential ransomware victimisation based on people’s personality types alone. Therefore, we should not blame victims for falling prey—in particular, we should not apportion the blame to their personality type. These findings can be used to improve positive cybersecurity behaviours, for example, by encouraging victims to invest more in cybersecurity products and tools. Additionally, our results showed that the aftermath of a ransomware attack could be quite devastating and hard to deal with for many victims. Finally, our research shows that properly dealing with ransomware is a complex socio-technical challenge that requires both technical and psychological support.

Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. Objectives were (1) to determine the strength of the association between personality type with depression and anxiety using the Preferred Communication Style Questionnaire (PCSQ©) and the Four-Item Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression and Anxiety (PHQ-4) and (2) evaluate the extent to which severity of depression and anxiety is associated with personality type. Data were collected via a self-administered online survey of 10,500. Chi-square analysis compared personality types and depression and anxiety. Practical significance was determined by calculating the percentage-from-expected score based on established statistics reflecting each personality type's percentage in the US population. Personality type was strongly associated with both depression and anxiety with certain types at significantly greater risk than others. Findings can improve the research and clinical community's understanding of the specific risk factors and triggers for depression and anxiety, and result in more efficacious, tailored treatment options.

Purpose; this is an empirical research, concerned with the relationship between Personality types and Form of the Furniture, with the productivity consideration. The outcome does not emphasize the interactional processes among employees; it will establish a link between Psychology, Architecture and Productivity.Methodology; the primary data for the survey was collected from a self-administered questionnaire from 202 employees through the online survey and hard copy. The survey study was conducted to the employees of the Architect’s office in Iran and India.Result; the study revealed that Personality types in Architects’ offices has a significant influence on the employees’ preferences regarding Form of the Furniture, but it had not impacted on their Productivity. Besides, Form selections in these offices had a significant influence on the employees’ Productivity.

Existing research shows that it is effective for the persuader to personalize persuasion based on the persuadee’s personality. However, prior studies overlooked the interactions of multiple personality traits, which undermines the effectiveness of personalization. In this paper, we investigated the utility of personality types for predicting behavioral intention and personalizing persuasion. The personality types are constructed by categorizing subjects based on the interactions of their Big Five personality traits. Using these personality types as predictors, we then examined how they improved model fitting and prediction accuracy compared to personality traits. Specifically, we used the online survey data of 3,116 Japanese participants to build nine prediction models and confirmed that (1) personality type is a significant factor in personalizing strategies and predicting behavioral intention, and (2) personality types should be appropriately applied according to the prediction model’s complexity when personalizing persuasive strategies.KeywordsPersonalized persuasionPersonality typeBehavioral intention prediction

ObjectivesIt is important to understand what factors make some users of social media engage in risky activities. This under-researched area is the focus of the present study which applies the dual-process Prototype Willingness Model to demonstrate the potential role of reasoned and social reactive pathways in explaining risk behaviors in adolescents and adults in the online environment. DesignQuantitative single time point study using online survey data from an international sample of social media users (N = 1220). MethodsTwo-step logistic regression analysis tested the predictive ability of the reactive pathway variables of the Prototype Willingness Model above and beyond reasoned pathway variables from expectancy-value models such as the Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behavior. ResultsThe reactive pathway variables increased explained variance in willingness to engage in online risk behaviors (compared to reasoned pathway variables alone) by a mean improvement of 6.2% across both adolescent and adult age groups. Prototype favorability (how positively or negatively an individual judges their perception of the ‘typical person’ to engage in a risk behavior) emerged as a particularly strong predictor of willingness to engage in online risky behavior. The predictive ability of prototype similarity (an individuals perceived similarity to the ‘typical person’ to engage in risk behavior) differed according to the type of risk behavior involved, with similarity on conscientiousness and extraversion appearing to have the most influence upon willingness. ConclusionsReactive pathways significantly predict willingness to engage in risky behavior online across both age groups. The reactive pathway variables explained more additional variance in willingness for adolescents compared to adults suggesting that reactive processes may play a bigger part in adolescents’ online risk taking; with decision making potentially shifting towards a more reasoned, analytical pathway in adulthood.

Improving password memorability, while not inconveniencing the user