Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Predicting The Adoption Of Password Managers: A Tale Of Two Samples, Shelia Kennison, D. Eric Chan-Tin

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Using weak passwords and re-using passwords can make one vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches. Cybersecurity experts recommend the adoption of password managers (PMs), as they generate and store strong passwords for all accounts. Prior research has shown that few people adopt PMs. Our research examined PM adoption in a sample of 221 undergraduates from psychology courses and a sample of 278 MTurk workers. We hypothesized that PM adoption could be predicted using a small set of user characteristics (i.e., gender, age, Big Five personality traits, number of devices used, frequency of using social media, and cybersecurity knowledge). The results showed that …

Tweets R Us: Predicting Personality From Language And Emoji Use On Twitter, Maxwell Meckling, Sarah Shoup, D. E. Chan-Tin, Shelia Kennison

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The research investigated the suggestion from prior research that language and emojis use on Twitter and other social media platforms can predict users’ personality and gender (Adali et al., 2014; Golbeck et al., 2011; Li et al., 2019; Moreno et al., 2019; Raess, 2018). Some studies have also analyzed Twitter language to identify individuals with specific health conditions (e.g., alcohol recovery, Golbeck, 2012; sleep problems, Suarez et al., 2018).

If strategies to predict Twitter users’ characteristics prove to be successful, future efforts to direct persuasive messages related to recommended practices in public health and/or cybersecurity will be possible. Commercial applications …

Nudging Students To Use Stronger Passwords: A Test Of Big Five Personality-Based Messages, Shelia Kennison, Eric Chan-Tin

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Cybersecurity breaches can occur when one uses an easily hacked password. Prior research has investigated 1) possible steps to encourage users to use strong passwords and 2) how personality is related to users using strong passwords.

We investigated whether personality-based nudging messages based on Big Five traits could nudge people to create stronger passwords (c.f., Jones et al., 2021). We also examined how personal characteristics, such as gender, age, personality traits, password knowledge, attitudes, and behavior, and need for cognition, were related to password strength.

We tested the hypothesis that passwords created following messages matching participants’ personality would be stronger …

Who Creates Strong Passwords When Nudging Fails, Shelia M. Kennison, Ian T. Jones, Victoria H. Spooner, D. Eric Chan-Tin

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The use of strong passwords is viewed as a recommended cybersecurity practice, as the hacking of weak passwords led to major cybersecurity breaches. The present research investigated whether nudging with messages based on participants’ self-schemas could lead them to create stronger passwords. We modeled our study on prior health-related research demonstrating positive results using messages based on self-schema categories (i.e., True Colors categories -compassionate, loyal, intellectual, and adventurous). We carried out an online study, one with 256 (185 women, 66 men, 5 other) undergraduates and one with 424 (240 men, 179 women, 5 other) Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers, in …

Impact Of Personality Types And Matching Messaging On Password Strength, Anna Bakas, Anne Wagner, Spencer Johnston, Shelia Kennison, Eric Chan-Tin

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

People often create passwords for their accounts that are insecure. An insecure password is often easy to guess– thus, hackers can easily access their victims’ accounts. It is important for users to know how to create and manage secure passwords so they can better protect themselves from hackers. It is well-known that different users have different personality types, such as Big Five and True Colors. This research examines if there is any link between personality types and password security behavior. Each participant was shown either a matching or mismatching message based on their personality type, and it was measured whether …