The effect of terrorism on executives' willingness to travel internationally.
Item
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Title
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The effect of terrorism on executives' willingness to travel internationally.
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Identifier
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AAI9029925
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identifier
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9029925
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Creator
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Cook, William Joseph, Jr.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Robert Kelly
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Date
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1990
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, Criminology and Penology | Psychology, Personality | Political Science, International Law and Relations
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Abstract
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The goal of this study was to examine the effects of terrorism, crime, and political instability, along with experience in international travel, employment in the security industry, and knowledge about terrorism on business executives' willingness to travel internationally. It was hypothesized that experience in international travel would be positively associated with greater willingness, and that both employment in the security industry and the level of knowledge about terrorism would be negatively related to willingness to travel internationally.;A total of 408 subjects were studied during two phases of the research project. In phase I, 140 subjects who attended an International Security Conference completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of eight narratives which described imaginary countries which varied according to rates of terrorism, crime, and political instability. After reading each narrative, subjects completed a Guttman-type scale which measured willingness to travel to that country. Biographical information was also elicited.;In phase II, 268 executives (from a nationally selected sample of 1200) returned questionnaires which had been mailed to them. The phase II questionnaires used key phrases, instead of narratives, to describe the imaginary countries.;Data was analyzed using a Multiple Regression Analysis and a 3 x 2 ANOVA of the dependent measures, while the hypotheses were tested using {dollar}\chi\sp2{dollar} and t tests.;Results supported the hypothesis that willingness to travel under high terrorism conditions is related to prior experience in international travel. The strongest predictor of willingness to travel internationally under conditions of high terrorism was a subject's reluctance to change travel plans in response to news media coverage of terrorism. Subjects feared terrorism most, but also feared crime; they were not as concerned about political instability unless it occurred with terrorism; then, it increased a subject's fear of terrorism. It was found that both higher levels of knowledge about terrorism and employment in the security industry are negatively related to willingness for the Phase I group; contrary to what expected, these variables were positively related to greater willingness for the Phase II group. The contradictory results were attributed to probable sampling bias for the phase I grouping, so it is argued that the phase II results are more likely to be valid.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
