Cyber Terrorism and Public Support for Retaliation – A Multi-Country Survey Experiment

Does exposure to cyber terrorism prompt calls for retaliatory military strikes? By what psychological mechanism does it do so? Through a series of controlled, randomized experiments, this study exposed respondents (n = 2,028) to television news reports depicting cyber and conventional terror attacks...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of political science 2022-04, Vol.52 (2), p.850-868
Main Authors: Shandler, Ryan, Gross, Michael L., Backhaus, Sophia, Canetti, Daphna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anger
Anxiety
Broadcast journalism
Cyberterrorism
Electricity distribution
Experiments
Fatalities
Foreign policy
Infrastructure
International relations
Militancy
Military air strikes
News
Political science
Politics
Polls & surveys
Psychological mechanisms
Public opinion
Respondents
Retaliation
Strikes
Television
Terrorism
Threats
Violence
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Summary:Does exposure to cyber terrorism prompt calls for retaliatory military strikes? By what psychological mechanism does it do so? Through a series of controlled, randomized experiments, this study exposed respondents (n = 2,028) to television news reports depicting cyber and conventional terror attacks against critical infrastructures in the United States, United Kingdom and Israel. The findings indicate that only lethal cyber terrorism triggers strong support for retaliation. Findings also confirm that anger bridges exposure to cyber terrorism and retaliation, rather than psychological mechanisms such as threat perception or anxiety as other studies propose. These findings extend to the cyber realm a recent trend that views anger as a primary mechanism linking exposure to terrorism with militant preferences. With cyber terrorism a mounting international concern, this study demonstrates how exposure to this threat can generate strong public support for retaliatory policies, depending on the lethality of the attack.
ISSN:0007-1234
1469-2112
DOI:10.1017/S0007123420000812