Impact of personality and media on terrorism perception

Research showed that terrorism perception is influenced by the media. In this context, this study aimed to study how personality influences terrorism perception through qualitative and quantitative methods. Participants (n=90) answered an online questionnaire that measured danger perception of terrorist events, the media influence as well as personality (BFI-Fr). Afterwards, a semi-directive interview was realized with a sample of the online questionnaire participants (n=30) in order to give substance to the previous observations. Results suggested that some personality dimensions – agreeability and neroticism – are linked to high level of terrorism perception in terms of threat perception, worrying, avoidance and relation to the media. Furthermore, the media as well as personal characteristics – age, gender and profession – influence terrorism perception.