Morale and Perceived Threats as Predictors of Psychological Coping with Distress in Pandemic and Armed Conflict Times

The present study investigated predictors of psychological coping with adversity responses during the COVID-19 pandemic and an armed conflict. Two paired samples that represented the Israeli population that was exposed to both adversities were compared. Respondents rated five different psychological coping responses associated with the two adversities, such as anxiety or individual resilience. Perceived security, pandemic, economic, and political risks, as well as level of morale, were rated. Two major findings were disclosed by two path analyses. Morale improved the predictions of the varied coping responses in both the pandemic and conflict and was the best predictor of four out of five responses and the second-best predictor of the fifth response. Contrary to previous studies, our findings revealed that the concept of a single major predictor of coping responses under distress is an overgeneralization. In both cases, the coping responses were better explained by other perceived risks rather than by the risk of the investigated adversity. Rather than assume that a perceived security threat accounts for low levels of public moods, it is vital to study the antecedents of coping responses and to empirically examine additional potential predictors.

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Less Safe

Patriotic Information Systems ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-594-8.ch002 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 28-41

Author(s):

Harry Hammitt

Keyword(s):

Web Sites ◽

Critical Infrastructure ◽

Bush Administration ◽

Public Access ◽

Open Government ◽

Terrorist Attacks ◽

Government Agencies ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Security Threat ◽

Perceived Security

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there has been a tightening of public access. In response to perceived security threats, government agencies have taken information down from Web sites, curtailed or restricted access to electronic sources of information, broadened the interpretation of FOIA exemptions, created or augmented new categories of restricted information, and prohibited public access for critical infrastructure information. These policy responses have been based both on the perceived security threat and an inhospitable attitude toward open government on the part of the Bush administration.

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The Coping Process: Cognitive Appraisals of Stress, Coping Strategies, and Coping Effectiveness

The Sport Psychologist ◽

10.1123/tsp.17.4.406 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 406-425 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Mi-Sook Kim ◽

Joan L. Duda

Keyword(s):

Coping Strategies ◽

Goodness Of Fit ◽

Cognitive Appraisals ◽

Intercollegiate Athletes ◽

Coping Responses ◽

Coping Process ◽

Path Analyses ◽

Stress Coping Strategies ◽

And Coping

This study examined the effectiveness of the reported coping responses utilized by 318 U.S. and 404 Korean athletes based on the Outcome model (i.e., considers perceived immediate and long-term outcomes) and the Goodness-of-Fit model (i.e., considers the fit between situational appraisal and coping strategies employed). Intercollegiate athletes provided information regarding frequency of psychological difficulties experienced during competition, their perceived controllability over such difficulties, and the reported coping strategies utilized to counter this particular stressor. Recursive path analyses revealed that both Active/Problem-Focused and Avoidance/Withdrawal coping were deemed immediately effective during competition. Active/Problem-Focused and Avoidance/Withdrawal coping strategies were, respectively, positively and negatively associated with all three long-term variables. Results partially supported the Goodness-of-Fit model among both Korean and U.S. athletes.

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Armed violence in fragile states:

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s1816383109990208 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 91 (873) ◽

pp. 127-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Robin Geiβ

Keyword(s):

Extended Period ◽

Spillover Effects ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Fragile States ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

Security Threat ◽

Gradual Process ◽

Perceived Security ◽

Armed Violence ◽

Failing States

AbstractThe gradual process of state failure is commonly accompanied by armed violence. Apart from occasional outbreaks, armed violence in fragile states tends to smoulder with relatively low intensity, often over an extended period of time. The actual level of violence may oscillate around the level of violence that is commonly accepted as triggering the application of international humanitarian law (IHL). In addition, because of the specific objectives typically – though not necessarily always – pursued by armed groups in failed state conflict scenarios, cross-border spillover effects are fairly frequent. The qualification of armed violence in such scenarios according to the conflict categories laid down in IHL thus raises some rather specific issues. Moreover, weak states, failing states, and ultimately failed states are increasingly perceived as a key threat to international security. States seem increasingly inclined to assume sporadic order maintenance functions in the place of disabled governments so as to maintain the perceived security threat at a tolerable level. Current efforts to repress acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia are an evident case in point. Since the Security Council, in Resolution 1851, at least implied the possibility of applying IHL in that specific context, the application of this legal regime to sporadic law enforcement operations by third parties also demands further scrutiny.

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Perceived Security Threat and the Global Refugee Crisis

Armed Forces & Society ◽

10.1177/0095327x9702400104 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 77-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Robert Mandel

Keyword(s):

Refugee Crisis ◽

Security Threat ◽

Perceived Security

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The changing face of enmity: Carl Schmitt’s international theory and the evolution of the legal concept of war

International Theory ◽

10.1017/s1752971910000163 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 351-380 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Wouter G. Werner

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

Analytical Tool ◽

Carl Schmitt ◽

Irregular Warfare ◽

Security Threat ◽

Legal Concept ◽

The Core ◽

The Past ◽

International Theory

The past few decades have witnessed a renewed interest in the work of Carl Schmitt. Scholars from various disciplines have claimed that Schmitt’s critique of universalism, together with his analysis of irregular warfare, provides useful lenses to make sense of the post 9/11 world. In this article, I will critically assess whether Schmitt’s work is indeed useful for understanding the post 9/11 world. To that end, I will concentrate on one of the core arguments put forward by Schmitt: that the laws of armed conflict are unable to regulate irregular warfare, including acts of terrorism. In order to determine the validity of Schmitt’s arguments, I will focus on one of the instruments used in contemporary counter-terrorism policies: the deliberate killing of specific individuals who are regarded as a security threat (‘targeted killing’). Based on an analysis of US and Israeli practice, the article argues that using Schmitt’s work as an analytical tool yields mixed results. While his analysis of irregular warfare remains relevant for contemporary conflicts, his denouncement of universalism blinds us to the transformational potential of international law.

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The Vulnerability of the Penis: Sexual Violence against Men in Conflict and Security Frames

Men and Masculinities ◽

10.1177/1097184x17724487 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 778-800 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Janine Natalya Clark

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Violence Against Women ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

Human Security ◽

Analytical Framework ◽

Male Victims ◽

Security Threat ◽

The Core

Sexual violence remains a persistent scourge of war. The use of sexual violence against men in armed conflict, however, remains underresearched and is often sidelined. As an explanation, this interdisciplinary article situates the issue of sexual violence against men within a new analytical framework. It does so through a focus on the core subtext which this violence reveals—the vulnerability of the penis. Highlighting critical disconnects between what the penis is and what it is constructed as being, it argues that the vulnerable penis destabilizes the edifice of phallocentric masculinity, and hence it has wider security implications. Conflict-related sexual violence has increasingly been securitized within the framework of human security. The concept of human security, however, is deeply gendered and often excludes male victims of sexual violence. This gendering, in turn, reflects a broader gendered relationship between sexual violence and security. Sexual violence against women manifests and reaffirms their long-recognized vulnerability in war. Sexual violence against men, in contrast, exposes the vulnerability of the penis and thus represents a deeper security threat. Fundamentally, preserving the integrity and power of the phallus is critical to the security and integrity of phallocentric masculinity and thus to maintaining a systemic stability that is crucial in situations of war and armed conflict.

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The Sovereign Right to Kill: A Critical Appraisal of Israel’s Shoot-to-Kill Policy in Gaza

International Criminal Law Review ◽

10.1163/15718123-01905002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 783-818

Author(s):

Noura Erakat

Keyword(s):

Armed Conflict ◽

Critical Appraisal ◽

Gaza Strip ◽

Security Threat ◽

Self Defense ◽

Lethal Force ◽

Ontological Approach ◽

The Gaza Strip ◽

Israeli Supreme Court ◽

Legal Technology

In the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military used lethal force against civilian protestors engaged in the ‘Great Return March’ of 2018. In its late May 2018 ruling, the Israeli Supreme Court held this use of force as legitimate self-defense. This article challenges Israel’s security response to these protests in an attempt to both unsettle a warfare discourse and to urge for a distinct ontological approach. The article argues that an ongoing settler-colonial project has racialised the Palestinian body as a security threat, and historicises Israel’s shoot-to-kill policy as merely one contemporary mode of dispossessing the native body. This includes a novel framework of armed conflict that has diminished the category of the civilian and expanded the scope of legitimate targets permitting the killing of greater numbers of Palestinians in the language of law; the article calls this legal technology the ‘shrinking civilian’.

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Non-Compliant Mobile Device Usage and Information Systems Security: A Bystander Theory Perspective

Research Anthology on Artificial Intelligence Applications in Security ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-7705-9.ch074 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1689-1714

Author(s):

Narasimha Paravastu ◽

Claire A. Simmers ◽

Murugan Anandarajan

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Mobile Device ◽

Protection Motivation ◽

Security Threat ◽

Evaluation Apprehension ◽

Threat Perceptions ◽

Systems Security ◽

Is Security ◽

Perceived Security ◽

Personal Use

This study tested the context of employees using their devices for both work and personal use, and non-compliant device usage of a person potentially resulting in Information Systems (IS) security threat to personal as well as work data and/or the devices. Integrating bystander and protection motivation theory (PMT) perspectives this paper studies bystanders' responses to IS security threats and the extent to which a perceived security threat motivates individual intention to act, in the context of non-compliant mobile device usage behaviors. It tests the role of an individual's threat perceptions to protect their own IS security, and as a bystander, protecting their peers or the IS security of their organization. Data collected from 431 individuals support the hypotheses that security awareness predicts perceived severity and protection motivation. Evaluation apprehension and diffusion of responsibility inhibit bystander's intentions to act against non-compliant mobile device usage behaviors, while awareness facilitates it. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of the research are discussed.

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Impact of Electronic Media on Pakistan’s Security

Global Social Sciences Review ◽

10.31703/gssr.2018(iii-i).25 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol III (I) ◽

pp. 434-446

Author(s):

Sarwat Rauf ◽

Inayat Kalim ◽

Muhammad Mubeen

Keyword(s):

Media Coverage ◽

Electronic Media ◽

Modern Technology ◽

Security Threat ◽

The Public ◽

Contemporary World ◽

Perceived Security ◽

The Media ◽

Negative Impacts

To control the mindset of any society, media plays an important role due to its ability to transfer information and thereby transform societies. Electronic media which thrives on conspiracies, has not lost its importance and TV is still a popular means of communication. By virtue of technological innovations, electronic media has a vast impact on all segments of society (exposure to modern technology and becoming vulnerable). In the contemporary world, terrorism is a major security threat in Pakistan. Continuous open electronic media coverage of issues occur with inherent bias. Against this backdrop, the role of media becomes crucial as the media agenda is gradually turning into the public agenda. Electronic media is inherently biases to the opinions of those reporting the situation. Admittedly, media can influence a large chunk of society. Importantly, Pakistan’s private TV channels while giving an insight to the audience, intentionally or unintentionally, may drive a negative mindset and give birth to perceived security threats. This paper attempts to ascertain the complex connection between security and the electronic media and also highlights the negative impacts of media on the security of Pakistan.

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