The Role of Auditory Environments and Anxiety in Detecting Phishing Emails

Reza Ghaiumy Anaraky, Mark Cartwright, Oded Nov

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

This work explores the effects of auditory environments and anxiety on users’ ability to identify phishing emails. In an experimental in-person study, sixty participants evaluated twelve different phishing and legitimate emails while immersed in four different auditory environments (silence, lecture, ambient street noise, concert), at low or high playback (i.e., volume) levels. Using a path model, we found that (1) all non-silent auditory environments induced some level of anxiety, reducing participants’ ability to correctly identify phishing emails, and (2) low (vs. high) playback level of ambient noise led to lower levels of anxiety and, in turn, higher accuracy in identifying phishing emails. These findings highlight the importance of auditory environments in managing anxiety for improving phishing detection capabilities. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this work.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCHI EA 2025 - Extended Abstracts of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9798400713958
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 26 2025
Event2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2025 - Yokohama, Japan
Duration: Apr 26 2025May 1 2025

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2025
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityYokohama
Period4/26/255/1/25

Keywords

  • anxiety
  • auditory environment
  • decision-making
  • environmental noise
  • Phishing detection

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Software

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