Internet and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can foster efficient communication and knowledge acquisition, but there are also tradeoffs in terms of risks to one's privacy. Previous research, including work with the privacy calculus framework, indicates that factors such as perceived risks and benefits of using ICTs, ICT trust, and general privacy concerns can influence individuals' digital privacy-related decisions. One pervasive psychological factor that may potentially alter such privacy-related behaviors is acute stress. Acute stress can promote risk-seeking behaviors and a tendency to prefer immediate rewards over delayed, greater value rewards. However, the effect of acute stress in the applied context of privacy decision making is relatively unknown. Participants (N = 143) in this study were randomly assigned to either an acute stress task (socially evaluated cold pressor task) or an active control task (lukewarm water alone). Results revealed that acute stress condition increased information disclosure, as indexed by accepting more online cookies, sharing one's location more frequently, and revealing greater willingness to self-disclose personal information. In addition, the impact of individuals' levels of perceived risk and benefits, trust, and privacy concern on privacy decision making was examined. However, none of these constructs consistently influenced privacy decisions over and above the effect of stress. Overall, our findings suggest that acute stress has robust, independent influence on privacy decision making.

中文翻译：

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压力会使数字隐私面临风险吗？来自一项对照实验的证据，该实验检查了模拟社交网站上急性压力对隐私决策的影响。


互联网和通信技术（ICT）可以促进有效的沟通和知识获取，但在隐私风险方面也需要权衡。先前的研究（包括隐私计算框架的研究）表明，使用 ICT 的感知风险和收益、ICT 信任以及一般隐私问题等因素可能会影响个人的数字隐私相关决策。可能改变此类隐私相关行为的一种普遍心理因素是急性压力。严重的压力会促进冒险行为，并且倾向于选择立即的奖励而不是延迟的、更有价值的奖励。然而，在隐私决策的应用背景下，急性压力的影响相对未知。本研究的参与者 (N = 143) 被随机分配到急性应激任务（社会评估的冷加压任务）或主动控制任务（仅温水）。结果显示，急性压力状态会增加信息披露，具体表现为接受更多在线 cookie、更频繁地分享个人位置以及更愿意自我披露个人信息。此外，还研究了个人感知风险和收益、信任和隐私关注程度对隐私决策的影响。然而，除了压力的影响之外，这些结构都没有持续影响隐私决策。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，急性压力对隐私决策具有强大、独立的影响。