Threat Avoidance Research Articles

Neurobiology of Pathogen Avoidance and Mate Choice: Current and Future Directions.

Animals are under constant threat of parasitic infection. This has influenced the evolution of social behaviour and has strong implications for sexual selection and mate choice. Animals assess the infection status of conspecifics based on various sensory cues, with odours/chemical signals and the olfactory system playing a particularly important role. The detection of chemical cues and subsequent processing of the infection threat that they pose facilitates the expression of disgust, fear, anxiety, and adaptive avoidance behaviours. In this selective review, drawing primarily from rodent studies, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the detection and assessment of infection status and their relations to mate choice are briefly considered. Firstly, we offer a brief overview of the aspects of mate choice that are relevant to pathogen avoidance. Then, we specifically focus on the olfactory detection of and responses to conspecific cues of parasitic infection, followed by a brief overview of the neurobiological systems underlying the elicitation of disgust and the expression of avoidance of the pathogen threat. Throughout, we focus on current findings and provide suggestions for future directions and research.

A mixed-methods investigation of the factors affecting the use of facial recognition as a threatening AI application

PurposeArtificial intelligence (AI) applications pose a potential threat to users' data security and privacy due to their high data-dependence nature. This paper aims to investigate an understudied issue in the literature, namely, how users perceive the threat of and decide to use a threatening AI application. In particular, it examines the influencing factors and the mechanisms that affect an individual’s behavioral intention to use facial recognition, a threatening AI.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a research model with trust as the key mediating variable by integrating technology threat avoidance theory, the theory of planned behavior and contextual factors related to facial recognition. Then, it is tested through a sequential mixed-methods investigation, including a qualitative study (for model development) of online comments from various platforms and a quantitative study (for model validation) using field survey data.FindingsPerceived threat (triggered by perceived susceptibility and severity) and perceived avoidability (promoted by perceived effectiveness, perceived cost and self-efficacy) have negative and positive relationships, respectively, with an individual’s attitude toward facial recognition applications; these relationships are partially mediated by trust. In addition, perceived avoidability is positively related to perceived behavioral control, which along with attitude and subjective norm is positively related to individuals' intentions to use facial recognition applications.Originality/valueThis paper is among the first to examine the factors that affect the acceptance of threatening AI applications and how. The research findings extend the current literature by providing rich and novel insights into the important roles of perceived threat, perceived avoidability, and trust in affecting an individual’s attitude and intention regarding using threatening AI applications.

Виклики, загрози та ризики у контексті резильєнтності економіки

The article is devoted to the study of the relationship between the concepts of challenges, threats and risks with the concept and signs of resilience. Based on the analysis of the dynamics, direction and content of publications in the scientific literature, indexed by leading publication databases, it is determined that the issue of identification, assessment and prevention of threats and risks is a constant subject of research by scholars in various fields of knowledge, but an unambiguous relationship to resilience has not been established. Among the subject orientation of publications, the main areas are various environmental issues, public health and the development of computer technologies. A generalization of approaches to definition and assessment made it possible to define a challenge as a phenomenon that can cause a threat, and risk as a threat that already has a probabilistic and quantitative assessment. Based on the analysis of various definitions of resilience, the following main features of the system’s resilience have been identified: adaptability – the ability to reorganize, rapid recovery after shocks, anticipation and avoidance of threats and risks. A scheme of possible transformation of challenges into shocks in the context of signs of resilience is proposed, in which the whole process is considered as controlled at all its stages. Challenges can have a potentially positive effect, but they need to be properly understood and responded to so as not to turn negative and pose threats. The transformation of conscious challenges into opportunities is ensured by the adaptability of a resilient society. Timely anticipation and identification of threats implies the possibility of preventive measures. Risk management should be based on a quantitative and qualitative assessment of probability and possible consequences. Measures to avoid, reduce the probability and prevent risks either exclude shock events, or shocks have a smaller scale and impact. As for the risks that are not prevented in time, the main feature of a resilient economic system is the ability to recover quickly. The resilience of the economic system requires the creation of a system of timely response to all levels of uncertainty at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, the structure of which can be based on the proposed scheme.

U.S. Healthcare System’s Electronic Health Records Security Threat Avoidance

U.S. Healthcare System’s Electronic Health Records Security Threat Avoidance

"I Wonder if my Years of Training and Expertise Will be Devalued by Machines": Concerns About the Replacement of Medical Professionals by Artificial Intelligence.

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare has raised concerns among healthcare professionals about the potential displacement of human medical professionals by AI technologies. However, the apprehensions and perspectives of healthcare workers regarding the potential substitution of them with AI are unknown. This qualitative research aimed to investigate healthcare workers' concerns about artificial intelligence replacing medical professionals. A descriptive and exploratory research design was employed, drawing upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Technology Threat Avoidance Theory, and Sociotechnical Systems Theory as theoretical frameworks. Participants were purposively sampled from various healthcare settings, representing a diverse range of roles and backgrounds. Data were collected through individual interviews and focus group discussions, followed by thematic analysis. The analysis revealed seven key themes reflecting healthcare workers' concerns, including job security and economic concerns; trust and acceptance of AI; ethical and moral dilemmas; quality of patient care; workforce role redefinition and training; patient-provider relationships; healthcare policy and regulation. This research underscores the multifaceted concerns of healthcare workers regarding the increasing role of AI in healthcare. Addressing job security, fostering trust, addressing ethical dilemmas, and redefining workforce roles are crucial factors to consider in the successful integration of AI into healthcare. Healthcare policy and regulation must be developed to guide this transformation while maintaining the quality of patient care and preserving patient-provider relationships. The study findings offer insights for policymakers and healthcare institutions to navigate the evolving landscape of AI in healthcare while addressing the concerns of healthcare professionals.

Electronic Health Records Avoidance: an Empirical Investigation from the Technology Threats Avoidance Theory Perspective

Electronic Health Records Avoidance: an Empirical Investigation from the Technology Threats Avoidance Theory Perspective

THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC SECURITY IN ENSURING COMPETITIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

The subject of the research is the study of economic security as one of the factors of competitive economic development of agricultural enterprises. Methodology. The article uses general scientific methods, in particular, theoretical generalisation, methods of analysis and synthesis, statistical analysis, and graphical methods to visualise the results of the study. The aim is to analyse the role of economic security in ensuring competitive economic development of agricultural enterprises. Conclusion. A reliable system of economic security is a crucial condition for the effective functioning of any business entity in a market environment. Ukrainian agricultural enterprises face numerous problems, such as depreciation of resource potential, insufficient financial and information support, and low level of management qualifications, which limit their ability to ensure economic security on their own. Identification, avoidance and neutralisation of various threats that can destabilise the functioning of an enterprise and threaten its economic interests are becoming the main tasks for every business entity. The development of an effective system of economic security and the introduction of mechanisms and tools for its management require a systematic study of both theoretical and applied aspects of the management of economic security of agricultural enterprises. The place of economic security in the competitive economic development of agricultural enterprises is decisive for the creation of sustainable and prosperous activities in the conditions of market competition. It becomes a fundamental element of competitiveness, which is the ability of enterprises to operate and develop effectively in an uncertain market environment. The main aspects of the role of economic security in the competitive economic development of agricultural enterprises include protection from external and internal risks, reputation management, support for innovation and technological development, financial stability, participation in market competition and sustainability of production. These aspects are generalised into a single practical system of economic security, which is the basis for the competitive economic development of agricultural enterprises.

Analisis Tingkat Security Awareness-Personal Threat Terhadap Ancaman Phishing Dengan Metode Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT)

Phishing is a sort of cybercrime that involves obtaining sensitive information through the use of email, SMS, or compromised websites. The effects of phishing are caused by factors in the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory. The single best way to stop phishing attacks is to increase awareness of the risk of them happening among users or end users (human firewall). To determine the next steps in raising user knowledge, it is necessary to measure cybersecurity awareness, particularly against phishing assaults. Identify a few significant cybersecurity awareness of FTTI University of Jenderal Achmad Yani students in Yogyakarta. The investigation in this case included a phishing test and also employed online observation using observers who were asked questions based on the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT). Using the MANOVA analysis method, factors influencing cybersecurity awareness analysis is conducted. Based on the analysis and testing of phishing tests as well as online questionnaires from the sample population, it shows that the sample is at a poor level of awareness. While the analysis of cybersecurity influence factors using the MANOVA analysis method shows that the results of the sig.> 0.05 value so that h0 is rejected. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that FTTI students were still vulnerable to phishing attacks. Factor analysis using the MANOVA method shows that the dependent factor affects the level of cybersecurity awareness of the respondents but there is no significant difference between the dependent factors.

Supplemental Material for What a Relief! The Pleasure of Threat Avoidance

Supplemental Material for What a Relief! The Pleasure of Threat Avoidance

Immersive VR for investigating threat avoidance: The VRthreat toolkit for Unity.

All animals have to respond to immediate threats in order to survive. In non-human animals, a diversity of sophisticated behaviours has been observed, but research in humans is hampered by ethical considerations. Here, we present a novel immersive VR toolkit for the Unity engine that allows assessing threat-related behaviour in single, semi-interactive, and semi-realistic threat encounters. The toolkit contains a suite of fully modelled naturalistic environments, interactive objects, animated threats, and scripted systems. These are arranged together by the researcher as a means of creating an experimental manipulation, to form a series of independent "episodes" in immersive VR. Several specifically designed tools aid the design of these episodes, including a system to allow for pre-sequencing the movement plans of animal threats. Episodes can be built with the assets included in the toolkit, but also easily extended with custom scripts, threats, and environments if required. During the experiments, the software stores behavioural, movement, and eye tracking data. With this software, we aim to facilitate the use of immersive VR in human threat avoidance research and thus to close a gap in the understanding of human behaviour under threat.

AI marketing and AI‐based promotions impact on consumer behavior and the avoidance of consumer autonomy threat

<scp>AI</scp> marketing and <scp>AI</scp>‐based promotions impact on consumer behavior and the avoidance of consumer autonomy threat

Disgusted snails, oxytocin, and the avoidance of infection threat

Disgust is considered to be a fundamental affective state associated with triggering the behavioral avoidance of infection and parasite/pathogen threat. In humans, and other vertebrates, disgust affects how individuals interact with, and respond to, parasites, pathogens and potentially infected conspecifics and their sensory cues. Here we show that the land snail, Cepaea nemoralis, displays a similar “disgust-like” state eliciting behavioral avoidance responses to the mucus associated cues of infected and potentially infected snails. Brief exposure to the mucus of snails treated with the Gram-negative bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), elicited dose-related behavioral avoidance, including acute antinociceptive responses, similar to those expressed by mammals. In addition, exposure to the mucus cues of LPS treated snails led to a subsequent avoidance of unfamiliar individuals, paralleling the recognition of and avoidance responses exhibited by vertebrates exposed to potential pathogen risk. Further, the avoidance of, and antinociceptive responses to, the mucus of LPS treated snails were attenuated in a dose-related manner by the oxytocin (OT) receptor antagonist, L-368,899. This supports the involvement of OT and OT receptor homologs in the expression of infection avoidance, and consistent with the roles of OT in the modulation of responses to salient social and infection threats by rodents and other vertebrates. These findings with land snails are indicative of evolutionarily conserved disgust-like states associated with OT/OT receptor homolog modulated behavioral avoidance responses to infection and pathogen threat.

The mediating role of security anxiety in internet threat avoidance behavior

In the prior technology threat avoidance literature, inconsistent results are found in examining the relationships between individuals’ perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and perceived threat, as well as the intention to avoid security threats. One possible explanation for this paradox is lacking consideration of the role of individuals’ negative emotions while facing threats, which is rarely studied before. Therefore, the current study aims to extend the landscape of technology threat avoidance theory by exploring the role of security anxiety in individuals’ responses to security threats from the Internet. Our results demonstrate that Internet users’ risk aversion is strongly influenced by their perception of security threats, response efficacy, and security self-efficacy within the online environment. Also, our results indicate that individuals’ security anxiety can partially mediate the relationship between perceived threat and Internet threat avoidance behavior.

Information vulnerability in facial recognition payment: An explanation of technology threat avoidance and information boundary theory

As an emerging payment approach, facial recognition payment (FRP) offers superior user experience for customers and is changing our daily life. However, the sensitive information collected by the FRP service provider may create customers’ information vulnerability which then hinders the use of FRP. Drawing on Technology Threat Avoidance Theory and Information Boundary Theory, this study focuses on how information vulnerability affects customers’ FRP continuance usage intention. By collecting two samples of 397 (Alipay) and 372 (WeChat) online survey responses with using experience of FRP through snowball sampling, this study empirically examines the conceptual model. The result shows that information vulnerability has positive impact on fear of financial losses and fear of reputational damage, which in turn reduce customers’ FRP continuance usage intention. As two important boundary coordination mechanisms, information use fairness and information use transparency both can negatively moderate the positive impact of information vulnerability on fear of financial losses and fear of reputational damage. Despite this study has some limitations, it still extends the literatures related FRP and information vulnerability, and provides significant implications for practitioners and FRP industry.

The walking sick: Perception of experimental sickness from biological motion

Identification of sick conspecifics allows for avoidance of infectious threats, and is therefore an important behavioral defense against diseases. Here, we investigated if humans can identify sick individuals solely from biological motion and posture (using point-light displays). Additionally, we sought to determine which movements and sickness parameters would predict such detection. We collected video clips and derived point-light displays (one stride presented in a loop) of sick walkers (injected with lipopolysaccharide at 2.0 ng/kg body weight) and the same walkers when healthy (injected with saline). We then presented these displays to two groups, one group classified each walker as sick or healthy (study 1, n = 106), and the other group scored the walkers’ health on a visual analogue scale (study 2, n = 106). The raters were able to identify sick individuals above chance, and rated sick walkers as having worse health, both from observing video clips and point-light displays. Furthermore, both sickness detection and worse apparent health were predicted by inflammation-induced increase in rigidity and slower walking, but not other cues. Altogether, these findings indicate that biological motion can serve as a sickness cue, possibly allowing humans to identify sick conspecifics from a distance, and thereby allowing for disease avoidance.

Brain-Wide Projections and Differential Encoding of Prefrontal Neuronal Classes Underlying Learned and Innate Threat Avoidance.

To understand how the brain produces behavior, we must elucidate the relationships between neuronal connectivity and function. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is critical for complex functions including decision-making and mood. mPFC projection neurons collateralize extensively, but the relationships between mPFC neuronal activity and brain-wide connectivity are poorly understood. We performed whole-brain connectivity mapping and fiber photometry to better understand the mPFC circuits that control threat avoidance in male and female mice. Using tissue clearing and light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), we mapped the brain-wide axon collaterals of populations of mPFC neurons that project to nucleus accumbens (NAc), ventral tegmental area (VTA), or contralateral mPFC (cmPFC). We present DeepTraCE (deep learning-based tracing with combined enhancement), for quantifying bulk-labeled axonal projections in images of cleared tissue, and DeepCOUNT (deep-learning based counting of objects via 3D U-net pixel tagging), for quantifying cell bodies. Anatomical maps produced with DeepTraCE aligned with known axonal projection patterns and revealed class-specific topographic projections within regions. Using TRAP2 mice and DeepCOUNT, we analyzed whole-brain functional connectivity underlying threat avoidance. PL was the most highly connected node with functional connections to subsets of PL-cPL, PL-NAc, and PL-VTA target sites. Using fiber photometry, we found that during threat avoidance, cmPFC and NAc-projectors encoded conditioned stimuli, but only when action was required to avoid threats. mPFC-VTA neurons encoded learned but not innate avoidance behaviors. Together our results present new and optimized approaches for quantitative whole-brain analysis and indicate that anatomically defined classes of mPFC neurons have specialized roles in threat avoidance.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding how the brain produces complex behaviors requires detailed knowledge of the relationships between neuronal connectivity and function. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a key role in learning, mood, and decision-making, including evaluating and responding to threats. mPFC dysfunction is strongly linked to fear, anxiety and mood disorders. Although mPFC circuits are clear therapeutic targets, gaps in our understanding of how they produce cognitive and emotional behaviors prevent us from designing effective interventions. To address this, we developed a high-throughput analysis pipeline for quantifying bulk-labeled fluorescent axons [DeepTraCE (deep learning-based tracing with combined enhancement)] or cell bodies [DeepCOUNT (deep-learning based counting of objects via 3D U-net pixel tagging)] in intact cleared brains. Using DeepTraCE, DeepCOUNT, and fiber photometry, we performed detailed anatomic and functional mapping of mPFC neuronal classes, identifying specialized roles in threat avoidance.

Relationship between perceived threat of artificial intelligence and turnover intention in luxury hotels

When artificial intelligence technology erodes employees' professional knowledge, they tend to feel highly anxious, and turnover intention is created. This study aimed to test the impact of the perceived threat of artificial intelligence on turnover intention through perceived organizational support and the perceived value of artificial intelligence. The method and procedure were as follow: construct a theoretical framework and propose hypotheses - collect questionnaires through voluntary sampling - use a two-step approach to test the model. This study has some findings. Theoretically, this study proposes a conceptual model of artificial intelligence perception. The combination of technology threat avoidance, organizational support, and perceived value theories applies to the research background of this study. Methodologically, the relationship between the perceived threat of artificial intelligence, perceived organizational support, perceived value of artificial intelligence, and turnover intention variables was studied together for the first time, and the perceived value of artificial intelligence as a new significant mediator between perceived organizational support and turnover intention is discovered. Managementarily, when facing the threats of artificial intelligence to employees, hotel managers should emphasize organizational support, especially in finance, career, and adjustment. This study has important implications for luxury hotel management. First, hotel employees' perceptions of artificial intelligence are dual. Second, luxury hotel managers should consider perceived organizational support to be a key variable.

Decision-making for concurrent reward and threat is differentially modulated by trauma exposure and PTSD symptom severity

Trauma exposure, particularly interpersonal violence (IPV) traumas, are significant risk factors for development of mental health disorders, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies attempting to disentangle mechanisms by which trauma confers risk and maintenance of PTSD have often investigated threat or reward learning in isolation. However, real-world decision-making often involves navigating concurrent and conflicting probabilities for threat and reward. We sought to understand how threat and reward learning interact to impact decision-making, and how these processes are modulated by trauma exposure and PTSD symptom severity. 429 adult participants with a range of trauma exposure and symptom severities completed an online version of the two stage Markov task, where participants make a series of decisions towards the goal of obtaining a reward, that embedded an intermediate threat or neutral image along the sequence of decisions to be made. This task design afforded the possibility to differentiate between threat avoidance vs diminished reward learning in the presence of threat, and whether these two processes reflect model-based vs model-free decision-making. Results demonstrated that trauma exposure severity, particularly IPV exposure, was associated with impairment in model-based learning for reward independent of threat, as well as with model-based threat avoidance. PTSD symptom severity was associated with diminished model-based learning for reward in the presence of threat, consistent with a threat-induced impairment in cognitively-demanding strategies for reward learning, but no evidence of heightened threat avoidance. These results highlight the complex interactions between threat and reward learning as a function of trauma exposure and PTSD symptom severity. Findings have potential implications for treatment augmentation and suggest a need for continued research.

Self‐compassion facilitates responsiveness to existential threat: A brief report

AbstractTerror management theory posits that validation of worldview and self‐esteem are primary defense mechanisms in keeping mortal concerns at bay, although potentially leading to the devaluation of others. Self‐compassion is considered a more inclusive defense mechanism. Drawing on preliminary research, we extended a previous investigation regarding the buffering role of self‐compassion within the Terror management theory paradigm. We embedded within a dot‐probe task a continuous death priming together with abstract and concrete threat images. We confirmed among 126 university students that following death priming, self‐compassion facilitated attentional attraction toward concrete threat and avoidance of abstract threat. These findings demonstrate the contribution of self‐compassion in coping simultaneously with different types of attentional threat and has potential to spawn future innovative research.

Sex differences in anxiety and threat avoidance in GAD65 knock-out mice

Anxiety disorders have been linked to a disbalance of excitation and inhibition in a network of brain structures comprising frontal cortical regions, the amygdala and the hippocampus, among others. Recent imaging studies suggest sex differences in the activation of this anxiety network during the processing of emotional information. Rodent models with genetically altered ϒ-amino butyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission allow studying the neuronal basis of such activation shifts and their relation to anxiety endophenotypes, but to date sex effects have rarely been addressed. Using mice with a null mutation of the GABA synthetizing enzyme glutamate decarboxylase 65 (GAD65−/−), we started to compare anxiety-like behavior and avoidance in male vs. female GAD65−/− mice and their wildtype littermates. In an open field, female GAD65−/− mice displayed increased activity, while male GAD65−/− mice showed an increased adaptation of anxiety-like behavior over time. GAD65−/− mice of both sexes had a higher preference for social interaction partners, which was further heightened in male mice. In male mice higher escape responses were observed during an active avoidance task. Together, female mice showed more stable emotional responses despite GAD65 deficiency.To gain insights into interneuron function in network structures controlling anxiety and threat perception, fast oscillations (10–45 Hz) were measured in ex vivo slice preparations of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). GAD65−/− mice of both sexes displayed increased gamma power in the ACC and a higher density of PV-positive interneurons, which are crucial for generating such rhythmic activity. In addition, GAD65−/− mice had lower numbers of somatostatin-positive interneurons in the basolateral amygdala and in the dorsal dentate gyrus especially in male mice, two key regions important for anxiety and active avoidance responses. Our data suggest sex differences in the configuration of GABAergic interneurons in a cortico-amygdala-hippocampal network controlling network activity patterns, anxiety and threat avoidance behavior.