Threat Perception Research Articles

Perceptions of Threat, American National Identity, and Americans’ Attitudes Toward Documented and Undocumented Immigrants

In this paper, we explore how the effects of perceived immigrant threat, American national identity, and attitudes toward immigration-dominated racial/ethnic groups on perceptions of immigrant contributions differ for documented and undocumented immigrants. We contend that different levels of perceived risk associated with undocumented and documented immigrants activate the effects of immigrant threat and American identity in different ways. We consider the varying effects of general perceptions of immigrant threat, and we also differentiate the effects of American pride (i.e., positive sentiments about being an American) and American exclusion (i.e., negative sentiments associated with criteria needed to be considered an American). We use data from the 2016 to 2017 Voter Study Group surveys, which includes a survey experiment with respondents randomly assigned to documented and undocumented immigrant treatments. We find strong negative effects of immigrant threat perceptions on Americans support for both immigrant groups, with observed effects significantly stronger for undocumented immigrants. Further, while American exclusion has strong negative effects on attitudes for both immigrant groups, American pride depresses support only for undocumented immigrants. We also find that evaluations of Hispanics have effects on perceptions of contributions for documented and undocumented immigrants, though the effect of Asian evaluations is limited to documented immigrants.

Specificity of cost and probability biases in social anxiety: Comparing status and belongingness threats.

Social anxiety (SA) is characterized by concerns about the expected occurrence (probability) and anticipated distress (cost) of social threats. Unclear is whether SA correlates specifically with biased expectations of belongingness or status threats. We aimed to discern if SA is uniquely tied to biased expectancies of either belongingness or status threats. We assessed 757 participants' perceptions of exclusion and put-down scenarios, analysing associations between SA and threat perceptions. Our findings support the status-sensitivity hypothesis, suggesting individuals with high SA are particularly attuned to the perceived cost of status threats, potentially informing treatment approaches. Understanding SA's link to status concerns enhances therapeutic strategies, emphasizing the need to address status-related situations, cognitions, and emotions in interventions.

The influence of environmental cues on behavioral response: An assessment of the Protective Action Decision Model in the context of COVID‐19

AbstractThe Protective Action Decision Model has emerged within the literature as a theoretical model with promising predictive ability, particularly in the context of short‐term behavioral response and longer‐term hazard adjustments. However, the applicability of the model in the context of public health hazards is less certain. Accordingly, this research utilizes an online questionnaire instrument disseminated via Qualtrics to residents of New York State at three points in the COVID‐19 pandemic (October 2020, January 2021, and May–June 2021) to examine whether changes to the built environment (i.e., signs requiring masking, signs requiring social distancing, and presence of hand sanitizing stations) influenced threat perceptions (i.e., perception of severity and likelihood of infection), and in turn, behavioral responses (i.e., masking, social distancing, and hand sanitizing) at different points in time. The results demonstrate that changes in the built environment were positively associated with behavioral responses at different points in the pandemic, rather than being mediated through threat perception, as predicted by the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM). The paper concludes with a brief discussion of how these findings may guide future research on environmental cues, threat perceptions, and behavioral response to better understand protective action decision‐making in the context of an ongoing public health hazard.

Measuring the evolution of Arab States’ perceptions of the Iranian threat: a quantitative text analysis of Arabic-language state media, 2010–20

ABSTRACT After the Arab Uprisings, inter-state relations in the Middle East became polarized between the two camps of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Iran and its allies, which strengthened the threat perception of Iran among Arab states. This study aims to empirically elucidate the changes in the perception of threats against Iran among Arab states through a quantitative text analysis of major state media in 10 Arab states. Through this analysis, we first substantiated that the Arab threat perception of Iran increased, especially in GCC members, after the Arab Uprisings. Second, there were significant differences in threat perception, even among the GCC states, according to their political stance towards key events in international relations. We also propose a new empirical method for studying securitization in critical security theory based on quantitative text analysis.

Pain of Threatened Self: Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem, Cortisol Responses to a Social Threat and Pain Perception.

Background: Rejection, injustice, and exclusion from meaningful interpersonal relationships are often extremely painful and stress-generating experiences. This study aimed to define the role of explicit and implicit self-esteem in pain perception as a component of the physiological-psychological system that regulates the body's response to stress associated with the threat of social rejection. Methods: In total, 360 individuals participated in this study. The measurement of cortisol in saliva, the assessment of pain thresholds using thermal stimuli, the IAT to assess implicit self-esteem, and a questionnaire on global self-esteem and social pain were used. The study included three measurements: baseline and 15 and 45 min after the application of a laboratory socially threatening stimulus (the Trier Social Stress Test). Results: People experiencing chronic social pain (CSP) are more likely to have fragile self-esteem, higher pain thresholds, and tend to experience reduced pain tolerance in situations of acute social threat than people without CSP experience. In people with CSP and fragile self-esteem, after the introduction of a social threat, an increase in pain tolerance was observed along with a longer-lasting increase in cortisol levels. Conclusions: Fragile self-esteem, along with feelings of chronic exclusion, injustice, and rejection, may prolong stress reactions and produce a hypoalgesic effect.

Exploring the influence of human values on perceptions of immigration: an experimental approach

Researchers have explored human values can effectively induce changes in attitudes and behaviors toward immigrants. This study compared the impact of different human values (self-transcendence and self-enhancement) on individuals' perceptions toward immigrants. A total of 250 participants were included in the study. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: control condition, priming condition on universalism, benevolence, power, or achievement. All participants completed a Scrambled Sentences Task to prime the value saliency, a Short Schwartz’s Value Survey for the manipulation check, and a questionnaire assessing their perceptions of threat toward immigrants. One-way ANOVAs were conducted between each value priming condition (achievement, benevolence, power, and universalism) and the control condition, along with planned contrasts. The results did not reveal any statistically significant differences between the conditions across the composite scale and subscales (realistic and symbolic threat). Post Hoc tests indicated that individuals who identified as White were more likely to perceive immigrants as threats compared to Blacks and Hispanics, suggesting racial and ethnic background differences in perception. Across all groups, negative correlations were found between threat perceptions and self-transcendent values, while positive correlations were found between threat perceptions and self-enhancement values. Although experimental evidence using Scrambled Sentences Tak for priming human values was not found, the study supports the correlational associations between human values and attitude toward immigrants.

The politics of allyship: Multiethnic coalitions and mass attitudes toward protest

Recent work finds that nonviolent resistance by ethnic minorities is perceived as more violent and requiring more policing than identical resistance by ethnic majorities, reducing its impact and effectiveness. We ask whether allies-advantaged group participants in disadvantaged group movements-can mitigate these barriers. On the one hand, allies can counter negative stereotypes and defuse threat perceptions among advantaged group members, while raising expectations of success and lowering expected risks among disadvantaged group members. On the other hand, allies can entail significant costs, carrying risks of cooptation, replication of power hierarchies, and marginalization of core constituencies. To shed light on this question we draw on the case of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which, in 2020, attracted unprecedented White participation. Employing a national survey experiment, we find that sizeable White presence at racial justice protests increases protest approval, reduces perceptions of violence, and raises the likelihood of participation among White audiences, while not causing significant backlash among Black audiences. Black respondents mostly see White presence as useful for advancing the movement's goals, and predominant White presence reduces expectations that protests will be forcefully repressed. We complement these results with analysis of tens of thousands of images shared on social media during the 2020 BLM protests, finding a significant association between the presence of Whites in the images and user engagement and amplification. The findings suggest that allyship can be a powerful tool for promoting sociopolitical change amid deep structural inequality.

Towards more trusted virtual physicians: the combinative effects of healthcare chatbot design cues and threat perception on health information trust

ABSTRACT Although virtual healthcare assistants have been extensively adopted in the healthcare industry, users still question their reliability. Based on the Computers are Social Actor (CASA) paradigm, the current study conducted an experiment to examine how different chatbot design cues (Chatbot vs. Layperson vs. Doctor) affect users’ trust towards virtual healthcare assistants. Results indicate that the doctor-like design cues and bot-like design cues (vs. layperson-like design cues) elicited significantly greater perceived chatbot expertise, which enhanced users’ trust in health information. This study further found the significant moderating effects of users’ perceived threat on chatbot expertise and privacy concerns. Positive effects of the doctor-like design cue and the bot-like design cue on perceived expertise were found to be significant only for those whose perceived threat was high. Interestingly, the doctor-like design cues led to greater (less) privacy concerns when the perceived threat level was low (high). The findings provide human–computer interaction researchers and chatbot UX/UI designers with important theoretical and practical implications.

Collective order and group structure of shoaling fish subject to differing risk-level treatments with a sympatric predator.

It is imperative for individuals to exhibit flexible behaviour according to ecological context, such as available resources or predation threat. Manipulative studies on responses to threat often focus on behaviour in the presence of a single indicator for the potential of predation, whereas in the wild perception of threat will probably be more nuanced. Here, we examine the collective behaviour of eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) subject to five differing threat scenarios relating to the presence and hunger state of a jade perch (Scortum barcoo). Across threat scenarios, groups exhibit unique behavioural profiles that differ in the durations that particular collective states are maintained, the probability of transitions between states, the size and duration of persistence of spatially defined subgroups, and the patterns of collective order of these subgroups. Under the greatest level of threat, subgroups of consistent membership persist for longer durations. Group-level behaviours, and their differences, are interconnected with differences in estimates of the underlying rules of interaction thought to govern collective motion. The responses of the group are shown to be specific to the details of a potential threat, rather than a binary response to the presence or absence of some form of threat.

Foot self-care behaviour in primary care patients with diabetic foot ulcers: Structural equation modelling of psychological predictors.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are one of the most prevalent and costly diabetes complications, associated with diminished quality of life and poor prognosis. Management of DFUs relies heavily on patients' foot self-care behaviour. This study aims to explore psychological determinants of this important behaviour among primary care patients. A total of 186 patients with active DFUs self-reported their illness perception, diabetes distress, self-efficacy, and foot self-care behaviour. Structural equation modelling was performed to examine interrelationships among measured variables. The final model demonstrated satisfactory fit, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.913, RMSEA = 0.050, SRMR = 0.073, χ2(95) = 132.256 (p = 0.004), and explained 51.1% of the variance of foot self-care. Illness threat perceptions (i.e., consequence, timeline, identity, concern, and emotion) had a direct positive effect on foot self-care behaviours, but also indirectly decreased foot self-care through increasing diabetes distress. Control perceptions (i.e., personal control, treatment control, and coherence) were not directly associated with foot self-care behaviours, but indirectly improved foot self-care by reducing diabetes distress and increasing foot care confidence. These findings suggest illness perceptions, diabetes distress, and self-care confidence as modifiable predictors to be targeted in self-management interventions for patients with DFUs.

Bias in prosecutorial decision making: Bridging focal concerns & group threat

PurposeTwo dominant theoretical approaches used to explain racial and ethnic disparities in criminal justice outcomes are focal concerns and group threat. This study tests hypotheses about disparities in prosecutors' indictment decisions drawn from these theories, as well as the liberation hypothesis. MethodsPropensity score matching is used to examine charging disparities between Arabs and Jews suspected of different property crimes in the Jerusalem district court from 2007 to 2018. ResultsHypotheses drawn from each of these perspectives are not supported. The pattern of disparities across different crime types is consistent with an explanation that bridges insights from focal concerns and group threat perspectives. ConclusionsOur study emphasizes the importance of the broader social context of the offense in understanding the threat perceptions tied to specific crimes and explaining ethnic gaps in prosecutorial decision making.

Turkey’s Policy toward Iraq since the First Gulf War a Power Balancing Approach

Following the Gulf War of 1991, Turkey became increasingly involved in Iraq, driven by a mixture of threat perception, ethno-sectarian links, and economic interests, which, in certain order, have led to its emphasis on maintaining the Iraqi territorial unity; preserving a degree of sectarian power balance in the governing body in Baghdad by saving the Sunni minority from marginalization or domination by the Shia majority; protecting the Turkmen minority; accessing energy resources and market; and, more recently, establishing a military-security foothold inside the country as its stake in the game of regional balance of power. In pursuit of these objectives in Iraq, Ankara constantly played a game of power balancing as its modus operandi in dealing with the country’s two governments: Kurdish regional government in the north and the central government in Baghdad by continually aligning with one side to counter the side that posed threats to one or more of Turkish objectives in the country.

Comparative Literature Analysis of National Security Management from The Global to Malaysia

The national security management structure is crucial to understand in ensuring whether the existing mechanisms are effective in dealing with national security issues and challenges. The country's approach, particularly through security agencies, should always carry out an assessment of internal and external threats from time to time, so that the integrity of the country's sovereignty remains guaranteed. The evolution of threat perception is in line with what is stated in the Malaysia Defense White Paper published in 2020 which is "the national interests in the present and future are tied to an uncertain security environment and the impact of an uncertain regional and global security environment, as well as an international strategic perspective become more complex and difficult to predict in the coming year.” Therefore, it is very important for a study to be carried out to see the comparison of national security management at the global and Malaysia so that good added value can be emulated, and the constraints faced can be used as lessons for improvement. The study uses Qualitative methods through library research which is the analysis of journals and online articles to obtain the views of past scholars on internal and external threats and security management structure, including the reformation required. The results of the analysis found that the threat that occurs in Malaysia same as the global except nuclear. Both globally and Malaysia face agency coordination problems due to national decisions and duplication of duties, state coordination issues due to the role being denied, reform failure and increased threats, weaknesses in reformation caused by political interference and there is a need for the involvement of all parties in national security management.

Individuals in Securitization: Explaining US Presidents’ Choice to (De)Securitize North Korea

Abstract Securitization and desecuritization demonstrate how threat (de)constructions can lead to conflictual or cooperative foreign policies. However, due to its focus on collectivities, securitization theory cannot tell us why leaders choose either securitization or desecuritization. Understanding this choice is crucial because (de)securitization processes can prescribe possible foreign policy options and thus affect the likelihood of conflict and cooperation. To account for leaders’ choices, I draw on political psychology and demonstrate the utility of my approach through an explanation of two US presidents’ preferences for (de)securitizing North Korea. Using leadership trait and operational code analysis, I show that psychological variables shaped Bill Clinton’s and George W. Bush’s preferences because they affected their threat perception and inclination toward conflictual or cooperative actions. These preferences had substantial consequences: While Clinton’s desecuritization attempt led to improvements in US–North Korean relations, Bush’s effort to resecuritize North Korea effectively reversed this progress.

The complexity of Machiavellian leaders: how and when leader Machiavellianism impacts abusive supervision

AbstractAlthough prior research has documented a divergent relationship between leader Machiavellianism and abusive supervision, it fails to uncover the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Drawing from trait activation theory as the overarching theory, we develop and test a dual-path model to examine how and when leader Machiavellianism leads to abusive supervision. Specifically, we theorize leader perceived threat to hierarchy (power-threatening process) and perceived power dependence on subordinations (power-sustaining process) as two parallel mechanisms through which leader Machiavellianism affects abusive supervision. We further identify leader position power as a boundary factor that influences the power-threatening and power-sustaining processes. Using multi-wave, multi-source data collected from 175 supervisors and their 763 subordinates, we found that Machiavellian leaders were more likely to perceive high threats from subordinates to the existing hierarchy, though this threat perception was not significantly associated with abusive supervision. Additionally, Machiavellian leaders were also more likely to perceive high power dependence on subordinates, which in turn reduced their abusive supervision. We further found that leader position power strengthened the positive effect of leader Machiavellianism on leader perceived threat to hierarchy, but did not weaken the positive effect of leader Machiavellianism on leader perceived power dependence on subordinates. The implications of our findings are discussed.

South African attitudes towards refugee settlement: Examining the importance of threat perceptions

Abstract Compared to many other countries, South Africa has quite a liberal refugee settlement policy. But public hostility towards refugees in the country is a serious obstacle to refugee protection. To understand what is driving anti-refugee sentiment amongst the masses, this study investigates refugee settlement policy preferences in the post-apartheid nation. Data from the 2020 round of the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (N = 3133) was used. Different possible drivers of policy preferences were tested. Data analysis showed that there was a robust relationship between immigrant threat perceptions and policy preferences. This finding is consistent with integrated threat theory, highlighting the damaging effects of widespread negative stereotypes about immigrants in the country. Other notable drivers of attitudes identified include economic anxiety and religiosity. Subjective knowledge, by contrast, only had a weak effect on attitude formation. The study concludes by discussing future research opportunities on anti-refugee sentiment in an African context.

Differences in Indicators of Socio-Psychological Integration Between Refugees from Syria and Receiving Community in Croatia

Abstract Socio-psychological integration is a dimension of integration affecting refugees and receiving community members alike, and is related to those integration goals which promote positive intergroup attitudes, close social proximity, interrelation of social networks, low levels of perceived intergroup threat, positive intergroup contact, etc. The goal of this study was to explore the differences in the levels of indicators of socio-psychological integration in both groups. Six hundred receiving community members in Croatia, and 149 refugees from Syria in Croatia participated in the field study. The results generally show that the refugees have more positive attitudes towards receiving community members, a closer social proximity and lower levels of perception of symbolic and realistic intergroup threat than vice-versa. Intergroup contact in Croatia is very rare, posing an interesting setting for the integration process. Potential implications of these findings are discussed.

Toward a Generalizable Understanding of Rightist Movements: Utilizing the Revolutionary Right’s Value Wars in Iran (1995–2009) as a Case Study

Bringing rightist movement studies into the Iranian context, this study advances a generalizable understanding of the ideological, moral, and cultural activism of Islamist movements and their rightist counterparts. While numerous studies have discussed the economic explanation of rightist movements, I integrate Islamist movements in the Muslim world and rightist movements in the West to develop a generalizable cultural and moral explanation of rightist movements. Value and ideological conflicts, as well as moral outrage, drive this integrated understanding of rightist movements. The rise of innovative and contentious forms of millennialism in Iran—especially the increasing salience of the Jamkaran mosque, the rise of new media outlets and millennial discourses, and pertinent policies—provide evidence for proposing this generalizable understanding. I argue that the rise of performative contentions surrounding millennialism, known as Mahdaviat, within the pro-regime revolutionary rightist movement in Iran was Islamists’ ideological response to liberal threat perceptions. These threat perceptions were activated before the liberal Reform era (1997–2005). After the ascent of Ahmadinejad to power in 2005, ideological millennialism became the dominant discursive field in Iran’s state politics. Drawing on narratives of prominent Islamist figures and media personalities in Iran and events surrounding Mahdaviat, this paper advances a generalizable argument of the moral and cultural explanation of rightist movements.

Age-Related Features of Perceptions about Personal Security in Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities

The paper studies the way younger and older adolescents with intellectual disabilities perceive their personal security. The research data were collected by formalized interview, subjective scaling techniques, analysis of personal files, observation diaries, etc. The obtained information was processed using the methods of content and frequency analyses, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Spearman’s rank correlation, and the chi-square distribution. The perception of personal security included such concepts as threat, defense, security, and subjective personal security. The study revealed significant differences between younger and older adolescents in their perception of danger, threat, defense, security, and responsibility for personal security. Children with intellectual disabilities developed ideas about personal security in adolescence, their perception of threat and defense depended on life experience and socialization. Their categorical structure corresponded to the norm but was inferior in terms of generalization and cognitive complexity. They separated threat and defense from security, which they associated with safety rules. The results could be included in programs of corrective psychological and pedagogical support.

Linguistic agency in disaster messaging: differing strategies for threat and efficacy perceptions

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of linguistic assignment of agency on individuals’ perceptions of source credibility; specifically, this study assessed the impact of linguistic assignment of agency when encouraging the public to download a disaster-related mobile app. The experiment was a 2 (human agency and disaster agency) × 3 (low, medium, and high source credibility) between-subjects post-study design. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six messages encouraging them to download the FEMA mobile application. As predicted, high source credibility led to higher perceptions of threat in messages with linguistic agency assigned to disaster. However, when measuring perceptions of efficacy, messages with linguistic agency assigned to humans were more effective. Finally, as predicted by the extended parallel process model, high levels of perception of threat and perception of efficacy predicted a higher likelihood of participants accepting the invitation to download the mobile app.