Realistic Threat Research Articles

Us or them: How COVID‐19 vaccine priority influences perceptions of local‐migrant worker relations

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic laid bare pre‐existing societal fault lines, placing immense strain on intergroup relations and giving rise to xenophobic sentiments. Drawing on Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT) and Social Identity Approach (SIA), our study examined how the public allocation of COVID‐19 variant vaccines could influence the dynamics between local citizens and migrant workers, and under what conditions. One key idea is that valued resource distribution that favour migrant workers may produce increased perceptions of realistic threats among local citizens which could lead to exacerbated negative attitudes and behaviours of high‐status local citizens towards low‐status migrants, whereas higher fairness perceptions of such resource distributions could potentially mitigate these negative attitudes and behaviours. To investigate these predictions, we employed a cross‐cultural approach and conducted an experiment in both an Asian country (Malaysia; N = 197) and a Western country (Australia; N = 210). We manipulated vaccine prioritisation, assessed local citizens' perceptions of the realistic threat and fairness of vaccine prioritisation, and measured their attitudinal responses towards migrant workers. Our results showed that the perceived unfairness in migrant‐favouring vaccine prioritisation, rather than realistic threat, negatively affected local citizens' perceptions of the migrant workers. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of intergroup relations.

Similarity, Contact, and Positive Attitudes toward Peruvians: Mediation of Symbolic and Realistic Threats

Similarity, Contact, and Positive Attitudes toward Peruvians: Mediation of Symbolic and Realistic Threats

An integrated threat theory analysis of latent tension between native Indonesians and Chinese Indonesians

ABSTRACT The relationship between Chinese Indonesians and native Indonesians (Pribumi) is marred by tensions and violence. The Dutch colonial legacies have positioned Chinese Indonesians as perpetual outsiders, making them constantly question their roles and identity in the process of Indonesian nation-building. Despite their centuries-old presence and Indonesia’s almost three decades of reform, prejudice towards Chinese Indonesians persists. This was reflected in the 2017 Indonesia National Survey Project, suggesting native Indonesians still perceive their Chinese Indonesian counterparts as an economically privileged group, greedy, selfish, and exclusive. Using integrated threat theory, this study explores the link between the perception of threats and prejudice towards Chinese Indonesians. Using multiple regression analysis, this study found stereotypes, realistic threats, history of intergroup conflicts, and age are strong predictors of prejudice towards the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications for integrated threat and prejudice are discussed.

Indigenous emergence and spread of kelch13 C469Y artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in Uganda.

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) were introduced as the standard of care for uncomplicated malaria in Africa almost two decades ago. Recent studies in East Africa have reported a gradual increase in kelch13 (k13) mutant parasites associated with reduced artesunate efficacy. As part of the Community Access to Rectal Artesunate for Malaria project, we collected blood samples from 697 children with signs of severe malaria in northern Uganda between 2018 and 2020, before and after the introduction of rectal artesunate (RAS) in 2019. K13 polymorphisms were assessed, and parasite editing and phenotyping were performed to assess the impact of mutations on parasite resistance. Whole-genome sequencing was performed, and haplotype networks were constructed to determine the geographic origin of k13 mutations. Of the 697 children, 540 were positive for Plasmodium falciparum malaria by PCR and were treated with either RAS or injectable artesunate monotherapy followed in most cases by ACT. The most common k13 mutation was C469Y (6.7%), which was detected more frequently in samples collected after RAS introduction. Genome editing confirmed reduced in vitro susceptibility to artemisinin in C469Y-harboring parasites compared to wild-type controls (P < 0.001). The haplotypic network showed that flanking regions of the C469Y mutation shared the same African genetic background, suggesting a single and indigenous origin of the mutation. Our data provide evidence of selection for the artemisinin-resistant C469Y mutation. The realistic threat of multiresistant parasites emerging in Africa should encourage careful monitoring of the efficacy of artemisinin derivatives and strict adherence to ACT treatment regimens.

Prejudice toward the Xinyimin in Indonesia: testing the integrated threat model

ABSTRACT China’s Belt and Road Initiative has galvanized new Chinese migration to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. The presence of the new Chinese migrants (Xinyimin) has not gone without resistance in Indonesia. This study examines the effects of history of intergroup conflicts and contact on the formation of threat perceptions toward the Xinyimin in Indonesia. The findings revealed both history of conflicts and contact predict realistic threat and highlight the importance of open communication in mitigating intergroup biases.

Right‐wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and attitudes toward peace and war: The role of symbolic and realistic threat

AbstractIn postconflict Kosovo and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we investigated the relationships of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), symbolic and realistic threat with attitudes toward peace and war. We also examined the mediating role of symbolic and realistic threat in the links between RWA, SDO, and attitudes toward peace and war. In Study 1, we focused on Kosovo Albanians (N = 415) and their relationship with Serbs, and in Study 2, we focused on the relationship between Russians (N = 132) and Ukrainians (N = 102). In both studies, we found that SDO was negatively associated with positive attitudes toward peace and positively with positive attitudes toward war. RWA was positively associated with positive attitudes toward war in Study 1. Symbolic threat was negatively related to positive attitudes toward peace, and realistic threat was positively related to positive attitudes toward war in both studies. The relationship between RWA and attitudes toward peace was mediated by symbolic threat, and the relationship between RWA and attitudes toward war was mediated by realistic threat. These findings attest to the negative role of RWA, SDO, symbolic and realistic threat on attitudes toward peace and war in conflict‐related contexts. We discuss potential implications for interventions that challenge negative attitudes toward peace and positive attitudes toward war in (former) adversary groups.

Emulation and detection of physical faults and cyber-attacks on building energy systems through real-time hardware-in-the-loop experiments

The increasing use of remote or mobile access, integrated wearable technologies, data exchange, and cloud-based data analytics in modern smart buildings is steering the building industry towards open communication technologies. The increased connectivity and accessibility could lead to more cyber-attacks in smart buildings. On the other hand, physical faults (e.g., HVAC − heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning faults) may have similar adverse impacts as those from the cyber-attacks on building energy systems, such as occupant discomfort, energy wastage, and equipment downtime. However, current physical behavior-based anomaly detection methods fail to differentiate between cyber-attacks and physical faults in building energy systems. Moreover, the challenge in collecting real-world threat data with ground truth has led researchers to rely on numerical models with user-defined assumptions, which may not accurately reflect real-world conditions due to the lack of in-situ experimental datasets. To address these challenges and gaps, this paper presents a flexible hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for generating cyber-attack and physical fault datasets and demonstrating threat detection algorithms in a real building automation system (BAS) environment. This testbed combines hardware (i.e., real BAS with local HVAC controllers and a physical network) with software (i.e., high-fidelity models to represent behaviors of building envelope and HVAC energy systems), enabling emulations of realistic threats. Five HIL experiments, including one baseline without any threats, two with physical faults, and two with cyber-attacks, were conducted to generate datasets containing detailed network traffic and system states. A joint classification framework, incorporating a network analyzer and a physical HVAC fault detector, was proposed to automatically detect cyber-physical abnormalities on BAS at both the network and the physical HVAC levels. The network analyzer comprises a conditional random fields (CRF) based command validator and a statistics-based detection strategy. The fault detector employs a weather and schedule-based pattern matching and feature-based principal component analysis (WPM-FPCA) method. Evaluation of the classification using four metrics from the multi-class confusion matrix revealed an average accuracy of 90.2 %, recall of 89.7 %, precision of 88.5 % and F1-score of 89.2 %. These results demonstrate that the proposed joint classification framework can effectively differentiate between specific types of cyber-attacks (e.g., device reinitialization attack, network Denial-of-Service attack) and physical faults (e.g., air handling unit operational fault, cooling coil valve stuck) in real time for improved building energy management.

Understanding Signs and Sources of Anxiety in Urban Elementary Schools Serving Predominately Ethnically/Racially Minoritized Children

ABSTRACT Objective This mixed-methods study examined teachers’ perceptions of student anxiety in urban elementary schools serving predominantly low-income and ethnically/racially minoritized youth. Method Most participating teachers were female (87.7%) and from minoritized backgrounds themselves (89.2%), teaching in schools serving predominantly Black/African American (40%) or Hispanic (60%) students, and in which > 70% of students are eligible for free meals. Teachers were asked in surveys (N = 82) and interviews (n = 12) about the nature of student anxiety, and cultural/contextual considerations that influence anxiety. Results Overall, teachers reported prevalence and signs of student anxiety that were consistent with the literature, but they reported higher levels of impairment than in previous community samples. Regressions revealed that greater levels of student exposure to community violence and higher proportions of Black students were associated with higher teacher-perceived prevalence and concern about student anxiety, respectively. Moreover, greater emotional exhaustion in teachers was associated with higher reports of anxiety-related impairment in students. Thematic coding of interviews emphasized how teachers perceived 1) most student anxieties to be proportional responses to realistic threats and stress in students’ lives (e.g. resource insecurity), 2) systems-level problems (e.g. pressure to perform on standardized tests) contribute to student anxiety, and 3) school-based anxiety sources often interact with traumas and stressors students experience outside of school (e.g. immigration experiences). Conclusions Relative to the predominant literature that has focused on biological, cognitive, and other intraindividual factors as sources of anxiety, the present work underscores the importance of considering how broader economic and systems-level influences exacerbate anxiety in marginalized youth.

Attitudes toward ethnic minorities among Thai students in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The increase of cultural diversity in Chiang Mai society has generated the need for introducing intercultural education in the educational system. It is crucial to prepare the young generation to interact with those perceived as “different.” The aim of the current study is to examine the majority attitude of Gen Z school students toward ethnic minority groups in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The study was based on an online survey with 14- to 19-year-old adolescents from the members of the majority group (Khon Muang). Data was collected from 265 students across two schools, a multicultural school (MS) and a predominantly Thai school (PTS). The study gathered demographic information, attitudes toward minorities, and intergroup contact experiences. Our results show generally positive attitudes toward ethnic minorities among the participants, with a significant proportion supporting social inclusion. However, students from the predominantly Thai school (PTS) demonstrated statistically significant, more negative attitudes regarding realistic threat, compared to the students from the multicultural school (MS). Gender differences in attitudes were contrast to our expectation, showing that the acceptance of intergroup marriage was positively higher in male groups. The study showed an expected association between the number of outgroup friendships and more positive outgroup attitudes. Lastly, factors such as gender and maternal education were explored by regression analysis on the perceptions of realistic threat, but these did not significantly predict attitudes toward ethnic minorities among Thai students. The findings point to the importance of supporting cultural diversity in schools and promoting multicultural education in the classroom.

Multi-SpacePhish: Extending the Evasion-space of Adversarial Attacks against Phishing Website Detectors Using Machine Learning

Existing literature on adversarial Machine Learning (ML) focuses either on showing attacks that break every ML model or defenses that withstand most attacks. Unfortunately, little consideration is given to the actual feasibility of the attack or the defense. Moreover, adversarial samples are often crafted in the “feature-space,” making the corresponding evaluations of questionable value. Simply put, the current situation does not allow one to estimate the actual threat posed by adversarial attacks, leading to a lack of secure ML systems. We aim to clarify such confusion in this article. By considering the application of ML for Phishing Website Detection (PWD), we formalize the “evasion-space,” in which an adversarial perturbation can be introduced to fool an ML-PWD—demonstrating that even perturbations in the “feature-space” are useful. Then, we propose a realistic threat model describing evasion attacks against ML-PWD that are cheap to stage, and hence intrinsically more attractive for real phishers. After that, we perform the first statistically validated assessment of state-of-the-art ML-PWD against 12 evasion attacks. Our evaluation shows (i) the true efficacy of evasion attempts that are more likely to occur; and (ii) the impact of perturbations crafted in different evasion-spaces; our realistic evasion attempts induce a statistically significant degradation (3–10% at p &lt; 0.05), and their cheap cost makes them a subtle threat. Notably, however, some ML-PWD are immune to our most realistic attacks ( p = 0.22). Finally, as an additional contribution of this journal publication, we are the first to propose and empirically evaluate the intriguing case wherein an attacker introduces perturbations in multiple evasion-spaces at the same time . These new results show that simultaneously applying perturbations in the problem- and feature-space can cause a drop in the detection rate from 0.95 to 0. Our contribution paves the way for a much-needed re-assessment of adversarial attacks against ML systems for cybersecurity.

Anti-establishment sentiments: realistic and symbolic threat appraisals predict populist attitudes and conspiracy mentality

ABSTRACT Previous research has found that populist attitudes and conspiracy mentality – here summarised as anti-establishment attitudes – increase when people feel threatened. Two types of intergroup threat have been distinguished, namely realistic threats (pertaining to socio-economic resources, climate, or health), and symbolic threats (pertaining to cultural values). However, there is no agreement on which types of threat and corresponding appraisals would be most important in predicting anti-establishment attitudes. We hypothesise that it is the threat itself, irrespective of its cause, that predicts anti-establishment attitudes. In the current paper, we conducted new (multilevel) regression analyses on previously collected data from four high-powered studies with multiple time points (Study 1) or collected in multiple nations (Studies 2–4). All studies included a populist attitudes scale, a conspiracy mentality scale, and different types of threat and emotion measures, reflecting both realistic and symbolic threats. Across studies, both realistic and symbolic threats positively predicted anti-establishment attitudes. The results support an emotional appraisal approach to anti-establishment attitudes, which highlights the importance of anxiety and feeling threatened regardless of what type of event elicits the threat.

The bold decision to go “all in”: Understanding the reasons behind consumers' willingness to migrate to the metaverse

AbstractThe study explores the reasons that drive and hinder consumers' willingness to migrate to the metaverse. To determine them, a mixed‐methods approach is used: phase 1 (qualitative) involves conceptual development of a model based on in‐depth consumer interviews, and in phase 2, the conceptual model is empirically tested via structural equation modeling. Results show that social presence is a crucial enabler, while realistic and symbolic threats are significant inhibitors of the willingness to migrate. Preusage cognitive dissonance significantly mediates the relationships between social escapism, social pressure, realistic threat, symbolic threat, and willingness to migrate. Specifically, the mediating influence between empowerment and willingness to migrate is higher for individuals with low metaverse anxiety. Results of the artificial neural network technique indicate that social presence is the most significant antecedent of willingness to migrate, and results of the fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis highlight the presence of six distinct configurations that indicate a high willingness to migrate. This study enriches the behavioral reasoning theory by examining the interplay of the reasons influencing the willingness to migrate. Further, it contributes to the intergroup threat theory by investigating the potential link between willingness to migrate and the presence of realistic and symbolic threats.

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.

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.

Explaining attitudes toward South-South immigrants: The relevant roles of contact quality, similarity and social dominance orientation in a Chilean case

The literature has examined individual predictors of attitudes toward immigrants, controlled by supra-individual variables, especially in European and North American countries. Nevertheless, this analysis has not been made using South-south migration communities. Thus, this study analyzed the individual predictors of the attitudes toward immigrants from Perú and Venezuela in a Chilean sample, controlling supra-individual variables. We used available data (N total = 956, composed of 599 and 357 for Peruvians and Venezuelans, respectively), considering seven predictors and three types of intergroup attitudes. The main results indicated that contact quality, similarity and social dominance orientation were related to almost all types of attitudes (symbolic threat, realistic threat and liking) toward both immigrant populations, except that similarity and dominance orientation were not associated with realistic threats and liking toward Venezuelans, respectively. The rest of the predictors, contact quantity, generalized trust, political orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism explained three or fewer types of attitudes toward both immigrant communities. We speculated about the reasons why contact quality, similarity and social dominance orientation were associated with more types of attitudes than the rest of the predictors, and the present model’s robustness.

StegEraser: Defending cybersecurity against malicious covert communications

Traditionally, the mission of intercepting malicious traffic between the Internet and the internal network of entities like organizations and corporations, is largely fulfilled by techniques such as deep packet inspection (DPI). However, steganography, the methodology of hiding secret data in seemingly benign public mediums (e.g., images), has been leveraged by advanced persistent threat (APT) groups in recent years, and is almost impossible to be detected and intercepted by traditional techniques, posing a pervasive and realistic threat to cybersecurity. Additionally, internal networks’ vulnerability to steganography is further exacerbated by the connectivity and large attack surface of the Internet of Things (IoT), whose adoption and deployment are quickly expanding. To protect computer systems against malicious communications that apply steganographic methods potentially unknown to cybersecurity stakeholders, we propose StegEraser, an approach to removing the secret information embedded in public mediums by adversaries, that is fundamentally distinct from existing research which is primarily designed for known steganographic methods. Implemented for images, StegEraser injects an excessively huge amount of random binary data with a novel steganographic method into the images, by utilizing the information-merging capabilities of invertible neural networks (INNs), in order to “overload” adversaries’ steganographic hiding capacity of images transmitted through the firewall performing DPI. In the meantime, StegEraser preserves the perceptual quality of the images. In other words, StegEraser “defeats unknown steganography with steganography”. Extensive evaluation verifies that StegEraser significantly outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods in terms of removing secret information embedded with both traditional and neural network-based steganographic methods, while visually maintaining the image quality.

Application of the integrated threat theory to conservation law enforcement.

Interactions between law enforcement agents in conservation (e.g., rangers) and illegal resource users (e.g., illegal hunters) can be violent and sometimes fatal, which negatively affects conservation efforts and people's well-being. Models from social psychology, such as integrated threat theory (ITT) (intergroup interactions shape intergroup emotions, prejudices and perceived threats leading to hostile attitudes or behaviors between groups), are useful in addressing such interactions. Conservation approaches relying mainly on law enforcement have never been investigated using this framework. Using a structured questionnaire, we collected data from 282 rangers in protected and unprotected areas (n=50) in northern Iran. We applied Bayesian structural equation modeling in an assessment of rangers' affective attitudes (i.e., emotions or feelings that shape attitudes toward a person or object) toward illegal hunters in an ITT framework. Rangers' positive perceptions of illegal hunters were negatively associated with intergroup anxiety (emotional response to fear) and negative stereotypes about a hunter's personality, which mediated the relationship between negative contact and affective attitudes. This suggests that negative contact, such as verbal abuse, may lead rangers to perceive illegal hunters as arrogant or cruel, which likely forms a basis for perceived threats. Rangers' positive contact with illegal hunters, such as playing or working together, likely lowered their perceived realistic threats (i.e., fear of property damage). Perceived realistic threats of rangers were positively associated with negative contacts (e.g., physical harm). The associations we identified suggest that relationships based on positive interactions between rangers and illegal hunters can reduce fear and prejudice. Thus, we suggest that rangers and hunters be provided with safe spaces to have positive interactions, which may help lower tension and develop cooperative conservation mechanisms.

Silver nanoparticles facilitate phage-borne resistance gene transfer in planktonic and microplastic-attached bacteria

The spread of bacteriophage-borne antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) poses a realistic threat to human health. Nanomaterials, as important emerging pollutants, have potential impacts on ARGs dissemination in aquatic environments. However, little is known about its role in transductive transfer of ARGs mediated by bacteriophage in the presence of microplastics. Therefore, this study comprehensively investigated the influence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the transfer of bacteriophage-encoded ARGs in planktonic Escherichia coli and microplastic-attached biofilm. AgNPs exposure facilitated the phage transduction in planktonic and microplastic-attached bacteria at ambient concentration of 0.1 mg/L. Biological binding mediated by phage-specific recognition, rather than physical aggregation conducted by hydrophilicity and ζ-potential, dominated the bacterial adhesion of AgNPs. The aggregated AgNPs in turn resulted in elevated oxidative stress and membrane destabilization, which promoted the bacteriophage infection to planktonic bacteria. AgNPs exposure could disrupt colanic acid biosynthesis and then reduce the thickness of biofilm on microplastics, contributing to the transfer of phage-encoded ARGs. Moreover, the roughness of microplastics also affected the performance of AgNPs on the transductive transfer of ARGs in biofilms. This study reveals the compound risks of nanomaterials and microplastics in phage-borne ARGs dissemination and highlights the complexity in various environmental scenarios.

Unconditioned stimulus devaluation decreases the generalization of costly safety behaviors

Safety behaviors are often maladaptive in clinical anxiety as they typically persist without realistic threat and cause various impairments. In the laboratory, safety behaviors are modelled by responses to a conditioned stimulus (CS) that reduce the occurrence of an expected aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). Preliminary evidence suggests that US devaluation, a procedure that decreases US aversiveness, devalues the threat value of the CS and thus diminishes safety behaviors to the CS. This study (n = 78) aimed to extend this finding and examined whether US-devaluation can reduce the generalization of safety behaviors to various stimuli. After acquiring safety behaviors to CSs of different categories, the US predicted by one CS category was devalued. In test, participants showed a selective reduction in safety behaviors to novel stimuli of the devalued CS category, reflecting a decrease in generalization of safety behaviors. Trait anxiety was associated with persistent generalized safety behaviors to novel stimuli of the devalued category. We discuss how US devaluation may improve treatment outcome but also the challenges of clinical translation.

The Kerguelen Archipelago and Australian Security Anxieties

The Kerguelen archipelago in the Southern Indian Ocean was never militarised and never posed a realistic naval threat to Australia or the British Empire during the twentieth century. However, there were two episodes, once in the Federation Era and during the Second World War, when there was debate within Australia as to whether this outlying French possession posed a threat to Australian security. By examining these periods of Australian anxiety surrounding the Kerguelen archipelago, it becomes possible to see that these concerns were more reflective of Australian strategic angst than any tangible threat posed by a remote, unpopulated, nominal French possession. This episode is an example of a broader Australian angst in the early and mid‐twentieth century that remote colonial possessions could be weaponised to isolate Australia and threaten it. The Kerguelens represent one of the most peculiar examples of the manifestations of Australian strategic insecurity.