Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Anxiety about electronic data hacking

Anxiety about electronic data hacking PurposeDespite concerns about digital privacy, little is known about emotional distress about data hacking and surveillance incidents. The purpose of this paper is to examine variables predicting anxiety about data hacking, and the role that such anxiety and other potentially important variables have in explaining the use of digital privacy protection behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 305 participants from an online labor market were sampled who frequently use the internet, surveyed about recent anxiety (using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7)), anxiety about data hacking (GAD-7, in reference to data hacking), and issues of digital privacy: news exposure, perceived importance, self-efficacy, protection behavior, and previous hacking victimization.FindingsProfession (information technology-related) moderated the symptom structure for recent anxiety, but not data hacking anxiety. Using structural equation modeling, prior hacking victimization predicted anxiety about hacking. Digital privacy protection behavior was related to hacking anxiety and privacy self-efficacy. Data hacking anxiety mediated relations between hacking victimization and privacy protection. Privacy self-efficacy mediated relations between news exposure to hacking incidents and privacy protection.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the self-report nature of the instruments, and use of a selective, non-random sample.Practical implicationsResults highlight knowledge, self-efficacy, and threat appraisal among IT managers in motivating better digital security practices.Originality/valueThis is the first study using a standardized instrument of anxiety to examine distress about hacking and predictors of digital privacy protection behavior. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Internet Research Emerald Publishing

Anxiety about electronic data hacking

Elhai, Jon D.; Levine, Jason C.; Hall, Brian J.
Internet Research , Volume 27 (3): 19 – Jun 5, 2017
Download PDF
19 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/anxiety-about-electronic-data-hacking-Nq6v9cHbd6
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
1066-2243
DOI
10.1108/IntR-03-2016-0070
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

PurposeDespite concerns about digital privacy, little is known about emotional distress about data hacking and surveillance incidents. The purpose of this paper is to examine variables predicting anxiety about data hacking, and the role that such anxiety and other potentially important variables have in explaining the use of digital privacy protection behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 305 participants from an online labor market were sampled who frequently use the internet, surveyed about recent anxiety (using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7)), anxiety about data hacking (GAD-7, in reference to data hacking), and issues of digital privacy: news exposure, perceived importance, self-efficacy, protection behavior, and previous hacking victimization.FindingsProfession (information technology-related) moderated the symptom structure for recent anxiety, but not data hacking anxiety. Using structural equation modeling, prior hacking victimization predicted anxiety about hacking. Digital privacy protection behavior was related to hacking anxiety and privacy self-efficacy. Data hacking anxiety mediated relations between hacking victimization and privacy protection. Privacy self-efficacy mediated relations between news exposure to hacking incidents and privacy protection.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the self-report nature of the instruments, and use of a selective, non-random sample.Practical implicationsResults highlight knowledge, self-efficacy, and threat appraisal among IT managers in motivating better digital security practices.Originality/valueThis is the first study using a standardized instrument of anxiety to examine distress about hacking and predictors of digital privacy protection behavior.

Journal

Internet Research – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jun 5, 2017

There are no references for this article.