IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/teinso/v85y2026ics0160791x25003963.html

The role of life satisfaction in cybersecurity awareness: A broaden-and-build perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Hong, Yuxiang
  • Mohammad Shafiee, Majid
  • Warkentin, Merrill

Abstract

Cybersecurity awareness refers to basic literacy in the digital age. This study discusses the influencing mechanism of an individual's life satisfaction on cybersecurity awareness, considering the mediating effects of internet dependence and burnout based on the broaden-and-build theory (BBT) of positive emotions as well as compensatory internet use (CIU) theory. We constructed a theoretical framework and tested hypotheses using regression analysis of a sample of 951 subjects based on a longitudinal survey. The empirical results showed that life satisfaction - as a stable cognitive indicator of subjective well-being - was associated with higher cybersecurity awareness, both directly and indirectly through pathways informed by the BBT and CIU theory. This study provides managers with actionable insights for promoting cybersecurity awareness by fostering psychological resources (e.g., life satisfaction) that buffer against security fatigue and burnout.

Suggested Citation

  • Hong, Yuxiang & Mohammad Shafiee, Majid & Warkentin, Merrill, 2026. "The role of life satisfaction in cybersecurity awareness: A broaden-and-build perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:85:y:2026:i:c:s0160791x25003963
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X25003963
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.103206?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:85:y:2026:i:c:s0160791x25003963. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/technology-in-society .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.