Generation 9/11: Perception of Terrorism Among Individuals Without Memories of the September 11th Attacks

• In Event: The Role of the Media in Perceptions of Risk and Fear of Crime

Abstract

The impact of the terrorist events of September 11, 2001 continue to affect those who
experienced it. There is a significant body of literature over the last twenty years examining
terrorism perceptions among adults who lived through this day, which sheds light on how those
impacts vary based on personal characteristics. However, there is very little information about
how these events affect people who were too young to remember or who were born after that
day. To help fill this research gap, we use bivariate and multivariate statistics to examine the
impact of personal characteristics, perceived risk, and media consumption of 9/11 and other
programs about terrorism on terrorism perceptions among college students without personal
memories of 9/11. We hypothesize that these college students will have low fear of personally
becoming a victim of terrorism and will not worry much that their family and friends will
become victims. This study will both add information to the literature regarding how terrorism
events reverberate over time and inform policymakers about the long-term effects of this event
two decades later.

Authors

• Judah Lebofsky, University of Florida

• Jodi Lane, University of Florida