Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
School of Political Science, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2020 Sep;23(9):595-603. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2019.0692. Epub 2020 Jul 8.
To what extent does exposure to cyberterrorism arouse negative emotions? Cyberterrorism has developed the potential to cause similarly lethal consequences to conventional terrorism, especially when targeted at critical infrastructures. But like conventional terrorism, cyberterrorism aims to terrorize, and exposure to cyberterror attacks can affect emotional responses. This article is based on an experiment that explores emotional responses to cyberterrorism using specially designed news reports showing major cyber attacks against critical water infrastructure. Our findings indicate that cyberterrorism arouses heightened reactions of anger and stress (measured physiologically through cortisol levels, and through self-report measures). Our findings also reveal that (a) exposure to cyberterror attacks is associated with higher levels of stress than of anger; (b) that these emotional responses do not differ from the emotions triggered by conventional terrorism; and (c) these responses are not dependent on the lethality of the attack. Finally, cortisol levels remained constant across conditions. This study covers new ground as it explores the distinctive role of anger after cyberterrorism, while affirming studies that describe the presence of stress.
网络恐怖主义在多大程度上引发负面情绪？网络恐怖主义已经发展出与传统恐怖主义类似的致命潜力，尤其是当其针对关键基础设施时。但与传统恐怖主义一样，网络恐怖主义旨在制造恐怖，而接触网络恐怖袭击可能会影响情绪反应。本文基于一项实验，该实验使用专门设计的新闻报道来探索对网络恐怖主义的情绪反应，这些报道展示了针对关键水基础设施的重大网络攻击。我们的研究结果表明，网络恐怖主义引起了更高的愤怒和压力反应（通过皮质醇水平和自我报告测量来衡量生理上的反应）。我们的研究结果还表明：（a）接触网络恐怖袭击会引起比愤怒更高的压力；（b）这些情绪反应与传统恐怖主义引发的情绪没有区别；（c）这些反应不依赖于攻击的致命性。最后，皮质醇水平在所有条件下保持不变。这项研究涵盖了新的领域，因为它探讨了网络恐怖主义之后愤怒的独特作用，同时也证实了描述压力存在的研究。
