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Financial threat is defined as fearful-anxious uncertainty regarding one’s current and future financial situation. The purpose of this paper is to examine predictors and outcomes of financial threat in two samples of students who completed an online questionnaire for course credit. The theoretical model the authors proposed tested the association between personal debt, anxiety, and economic hardship with financial threat, and in turn, financial threat’s relationship with willingness to change financial behavior (e.g. increase income, cut expenses, and reduce debt), job search activity, and psychological distress. Consistent across samples, structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that the data fit the model and supported all four hypotheses. Debt, economic hardship, and anxiety were all related positively to financial threat, which itself related positively to willingness to change, job search, and psychological distress. Importantly, financial threat mediated the relationship between these economic-situational predictors and affective-behavioral outcomes of financial stain. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Using an online questionnaire, participants completed measures of economic hardship, intolerance of uncertainty, job search behavior, financial threat, life satisfaction, general health, perceived stress, and willingness to change to financial behavior. The authors developed and tested a model that explores emotional and cognitive reactions to financial stressors following the recession.

Results of SEM revealed that the data fit the model and no modification indices were suggested. Examination of parameter estimates indicated that total debt, economic hardship, and anxiety were positively related to financial threat. Financial threat, in turn, positively related to willingness to change one’s financial behaviors, job search, and psychological distress. In addition, economic hardship and anxiety were positively related to psychological distress. That is, individuals who were feeling more threatened by their financial situation were more willing to change their financial situation and were more likely to engage in job search behavior. They were also more likely to report more psychological distress than individuals reporting lower levels of financial threat.

This study was cross-sectional and therefore precludes causal interpretations of the findings. Longitudinal data with repeated assessments of all measures would help determine the direction of causation. Also, the study relied on self-report data, which is prone to bias. For example, it is possible that some participants did not know their exact debt levels, which may have resulted in an under- or overestimation of debt levels. Future research should extend this line of research using objective measures. While the model tested in this study examined the impact of economic factors on perceived threat, behavior, and psychological distress, it did not include social and psychological resources. For example, the authors did not include measures of social support, coping, or personality, which may moderate the impact of economic variables and stress on psychological distress. Although financial knowledge/literacy was not studied here, future research could include it since it has been associated with a variety of financial behaviors such as cash-flow management, credit management, saving, and investing. There is some evidence that financial literacy can decrease emotional stress and anxiety (Vitt et al., 2000).

The current study can help researchers and practitioners understand the concept of financial threat among university students. For example, if students have incurred student loans and debt and begin displaying symptoms of distress, like anxiousness, worry, and irritability, they could be referred to a professional experienced in working with emotional and behavioral disorders related to financial issues. It can also help practitioners gain an understanding and insight into clients’ poor financial decision making. Government could initiate programs that help individuals cope with the negative effects of unemployment. Given that young people are experiencing disproportionately high unemployment that can have a lasting adverse effect on employment prospects and future earnings, the current post-secondary curriculum needs to prepare young people for the world of work, and gain a footing in the labor market. One way to achieve this is through high-quality work experiences (e.g. internships/apprenticeships). Identifying ways to mitigate the effects of debt and economic hardship is also imperative. For example, money and debt advice may improve one’s financial circumstances, which, in turn, may improve their physical and psychological well-being.

Future studies could focus on developing models predicting to financial stress using personality, psychological resources, and an objective measure of financial knowledge. Despite these limitations, this research demonstrates how emotional factors need to be included in economic models that also include debt and economic hardship. The study contributes to the economic and psychological literature by documenting how economic hardship and debt influence perceptions of threat, planned behavior, and psychological distress. The authors take a unique approach to describing economic hardship and financial threat as antecedents of distress, job search, and willingness to change. Future research could be directed toward employing the model for predicting behavior that would lessen economic stress and thereby leading to increased psychological well-being.

The study develops and tests an original theoretical model linking financial, emotional, and psychological variable in a comprehensive framework that is then tested empirically. This model is original with this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to look into how people in risky environments define human security by using the framework of the draft human security index of the Third World Studies Center, University of the Philippines to study five municipalities. The concept of human security used here is the comprehensive definition that covers “freedom from fear” and “freedom from want” dimensions but using a more local/bottom-up perspective in getting people’s sense of security and threats/risks. As a pilot research, the paper also reveals the shortcomings of the draft index as it does not highlight yet other factors like gender, ethnicity and other sectoral identities.

The pilot municipalities all have a history of violent conflicts or insurgency and they also face other security threats/risks, e.g., natural disasters and effects of climate change, limited sources of livelihood, lack of food, water shortage, etc. Through surveys, focus group discussions and interviews, people were asked about their sense of security and experiences, perceived threats to individuals and the community, understanding of human security and their capacity, as individuals and as a community, to cope with and/or do something about these threats. The focus of the manuscript, however, is the more qualitative responses of informants.

In these conflict areas, poverty and the limited livelihood opportunities are major threats, followed by threats to food, environmental, personal and community security (particularly peace and order). The perceived intensity of certain threats also varies depending on the type of community or group one belongs to. It appears that respondents have a comprehensive view of human security; what they lack are resources and skills to mitigate such threats. Community empowerment and improved local governance are crucial with support from external actors.

It is important to look at the experiences of other areas without histories of armed conflicts to understand possibly different security issues and threats/risks and include perspectives of people based on gender, ethnicity and other identities.

The research shows the value of using local/bottom-up perceptions of people apart from available development and security statistics (which are usually top-down, very general and universalistic) to assess, monitor actual and plan future interventions to address human security threats and vulnerabilities at different levels. The qualitative and quantitative data from the ground are also useful in refining human security-related concepts, hypotheses and theories.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the antecedents and consequence of regional animosity and their impacts on regional media preference.

Computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted with randomly selected adult residents in Northern (206) and Southern (201) Taiwan. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling in LISERAL and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

The findings reveal that perceived economic threat, economic hardship and dissatisfaction with government economic policy increase home region identification and perceived discrimination, which in turn lead to heightened animosity toward the opposite foreign region. This increasing animosity then affects consumer choice over home region media compared to media originated from the other region.

The findings suggest that military and political tensions alone cannot explain why consumers would harbor animosity between one region and another within the same country due to social and economic reasons. The constructs chosen in this research should be seen only as a snapshot but other variables such as a region’s natural environment and its human factors are not taken into account. Future studies would benefit from inclusion of these variables and a wider geographical scope.

Several implications are extracted to help marketing and branding personnel better shape their marketing, communication and media strategies, as well as to help government policy makers and political parties revise existing policy to reduce the animosity.

By investigating animosity within borders, this study provides fresh insights to help explain how economic factors contribute to increased regional animosity through the mediating effect of regional identification and perceived discrimination. The findings broaden existing understanding about the concept of animosity and its impact on consumer behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the organizational slack and acquisition experience on acquisition behavior across varying environmental conditions. Drawing from behavioral theory and the threat-rigidity hypothesis, the paper explores firm acquisition behavior, in terms of type of acquisitions, before and during the recent economic downturn.

Using data on 385 acquisitions in Italy in the period 2007-2010, the paper tests hypotheses on how organizational slack and acquisition experience influence the likelihood of cross-border and diversifying acquisitions relative to domestic, non-diversifying acquisitions prior to and during the economic downturn.

Results suggest that the availability of financial resources and acquisition experience both have an important influence on acquisition behavior. Firms with greater slack and acquisition experience were more likely to make diversifying and/or cross-border acquisitions, compared to domestic non-diversifying acquisitions, particularly during an economic downturn, than firms with lower levels of slack and acquisition experience.

The paper extends behavioral theory and threat-rigidity hypothesis, highlighting their applicability to acquisition behavior across varying economic conditions. Slack resources and acquisition experience appear to be particularly salient during challenging economic times.

This article aims to identify threats perceived by Swedish public library directors as the most prominent.

A web questionnaire was sent to public library directors in all of the Swedish municipalities. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

The findings reveal that the main threat was considered to be the tension between the current activities of the public library and the expectations of the public, or of local decision makers. One reason for the lack of correspondence between activities and expectations is that public library managers regard the expectations on the public library as unrealistic. Another reason is that lack of resources prevent public library staff from meeting many of these expectations. Public libraries are thus prevented by both ideological and practical barriers in fulfilling expectations.

A central issue in current public library research concerns how change in Western society affects public libraries. Many of these studies are either theoretical or based on interviews with politicians. Few researchers investigate how public library directors perceive the situation of public libraries today. Therefore, this article identifies perceptions made by public library directors.

This paper aims to examine the concept of “consumer animosity”, model its antecedents, and assess its influence on intention to purchase.

Survey questionnaires were distributed by a quasi‐random sample of school pupils across Taiwan to an adult member of their household, for completion and return. A return rate of 70 percent yielded 456 usable questionnaires, the data from which were analysed by the LISREL structural equation modelling software.

The results suggest that perceived personal economic hardship and the normative influence of members of a consumers' reference group have a positive impact on the phenomenon of consumer animosity, which in turn negatively affects the intentions of consumers in Taiwan to purchase products originating in mainland China and Japan. Contradicting previous studies, consumer animosity was found to be dependent on judgments of product quality.

The research model was built from data collected by non‐probability sampling in a single country. There was no evidence of sampling bias, but future studies would benefit from inclusion of more independent variables and a wider geographical scope.

The findings contain many practical lessons for planners of export marketing strategy.

Two existing theories of social behaviour are integrated with the concept of consumer animosity to explain consumption choices in an international context.

The chapter analyses the anti-immigration political parties in the European Union (EU) as a challenge for the EU values such as human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights. As the main constituents of the political groups in the European Parliament, the single elected body of the EU, the parties in the member states require a special scrutiny. In this context, the study aims at understanding and exposing how anti-immigration political parties in the EU discursively construct immigration as a threat. Taking into consideration their salient rise in the 2019 European election, it focuses on the discourses of the relevant parties delivered during the debates of the first half of the ninth (2019–2024) parliamentary term by using critical discourse analysis as its theoretical and methodological framework. The main argument of the study is that these political parties securitize immigration within three main discourse topics: immigration as a security threat, as an economic threat, and as a cultural threat.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of socially- responsible human resource management (SRHRM) on employee fears of external threats during the COVID-19 outbreak, based on social support and event system theories. COVID-19 caused sharp profit declines and bankruptcies of hotels, restaurants and travel agencies. In addition, employees faced threats to their health and job security. How to overcome employee anxieties and fears about the negative impacts of this crisis and promote psychological recovery is worthy of attention from researchers and practitioners. This research investigated the impacts of SRHRM on employee fears through organizational trust, with the COVID-19 pandemic playing a moderating role between SRHRM and employee fears.

The hypotheses were tested through multiple linear regression analysis based on a survey of 408 employees in hospitality and tourism firms in China. Qualitative data were also gathered through interviews with selected managers.

The results showed that SRHRM had a negative influence on employee fears of external threats by enhancing trust in their organizations. In addition, the strength of the COVID-19 pandemic positively moderated the effect of SRHRM on employee fears. When the pandemic strength was more robust, the negative effects of SRHRM on employee fears were more significant.

This research illustrated the contribution of SRHRM in overcoming employee fears of external threats in the context of COVID-19. It shed light on the organizational contribution of SRHRM to hospitality and tourism employee psychological recovery during the crisis.

This research explored strategic HRM by examining the effects of SRHRM on employee fears in the midst of a severe crisis, specifically COVID-19. The moderation effect of event strength and mediation effect of organizational trust were tested. It is of great value for hospitality and tourism firms to foster employee psychological recovery during a crisis such as COVID-19.

Departing from the assumption that discourse is both socially constituted and constitutive, and that social reality is co-constructed by the institutions of mass communication, this chapter takes under scrutiny media representation of the recent refugee crisis in Europe. The objective behind it is to maximise the validity of the Media Proximization Approach (MPA), drawing on the insights from Critical Discourse Studies, cognitive linguistics and corpus linguistics, in explicating how the media can potentially impact on the salience of issues and thus on public perception of problems and threats along with measures to be taken to deal with them. Examining the data from Poland, a European Union member state from Central Europe, criticised for its anti-refugee stance and refusal to accept the assigned quotas of migrants, and, importantly, the country ‘experiencing’ migrant crisis without refugees, we look at the role of word co-occurrence patterns in the discursive representation of refugees and immigrants in Rzeczpospolita daily and Niezależna.pl, the Polish right-wing press. The analysis, of both quantitative and qualitative nature, focuses on lexical associations of two nouns, uchodźca ‘refugee’ and imigrant ‘immigrant’, and their role as epistemic, axiological and emotional proximization triggers in the process of mediated construction of crisis and European security.