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CONCEPTIONS ABOUT TERRORISM: HOW FEARFUL ARE WE AND HOW DOES THAT AFFECT US?

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Date Issued:
2019
Abstract/Description:
Since the crusades, terrorism has been a form of violence used to promote some kind of agenda, whether political, social, religious or ideological (Martin 2018). With many different definitions of what constitutes terrorism, it is somewhat difficult to measure what exact impact terrorism has had globally. Attacks such as those on 9/11 in the United States and the Manchester bombings have been accepted worldwide as examples of acts of international terrorism. International terrorist attacks have lasting effects on both those directly affected as well as the larger community and beyond. Studies have shown that Americans are overly afraid of terrorism given their risk and want to put a complete and 'final' end to terrorism (Friedman 2011; Mueller 2005). Additionally, media outlets and politicians speak of threats and demand action which spreads fear and perceived risk (Bloch-Elkon 2011; Nellis and Savage 2012). This study seeks to contribute to the previous literature on people's fears regarding terrorism and how their emotions affect the desires to have action done regarding terrorist attacks. The current research uses a sample of 302 people to compare the levels of fear and the likelihood to want more action taken towards terrorism. The results from the statistical analysis show that fears and desire to seek action are shaped by many different variables. Gender was found to be the biggest predictor of higher levels of fear and political affiliation was determined to be the strongest predictor for desire to seek action.
Title: CONCEPTIONS ABOUT TERRORISM: HOW FEARFUL ARE WE AND HOW DOES THAT AFFECT US?.
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Name(s): Jackson, Rebecca, Author
Donley, Amy, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2019
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Since the crusades, terrorism has been a form of violence used to promote some kind of agenda, whether political, social, religious or ideological (Martin 2018). With many different definitions of what constitutes terrorism, it is somewhat difficult to measure what exact impact terrorism has had globally. Attacks such as those on 9/11 in the United States and the Manchester bombings have been accepted worldwide as examples of acts of international terrorism. International terrorist attacks have lasting effects on both those directly affected as well as the larger community and beyond. Studies have shown that Americans are overly afraid of terrorism given their risk and want to put a complete and 'final' end to terrorism (Friedman 2011; Mueller 2005). Additionally, media outlets and politicians speak of threats and demand action which spreads fear and perceived risk (Bloch-Elkon 2011; Nellis and Savage 2012). This study seeks to contribute to the previous literature on people's fears regarding terrorism and how their emotions affect the desires to have action done regarding terrorist attacks. The current research uses a sample of 302 people to compare the levels of fear and the likelihood to want more action taken towards terrorism. The results from the statistical analysis show that fears and desire to seek action are shaped by many different variables. Gender was found to be the biggest predictor of higher levels of fear and political affiliation was determined to be the strongest predictor for desire to seek action.
Identifier: CFH2000496 (IID), ucf:45628 (fedora)
Note(s): 2019-05-01
B.A.
College of Sciences, Sociology
Bachelors
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): terrorism
media
emotions
fears
sociology
criminology
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000496
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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