Impact of Threat of Terrorist Attack on Social Interaction Anxiety and Death Anxiety among Young Adults

Abstract

Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges of the world and it is difficult to specify its reasons and impacts. It is a fear inducer among masses, and victimize people physically (directly) and psychologically (indirectly). Pakistan is one of those countries of the world in which such cruel acts i.e. suicide blasts, target killing and serial bombings, happen repeatedly. Experts believed that in such circumstances people might have high death anxiety, and social interaction anxiety. Presented study was aimed to explore these variables during the time of threat. Study was completed in two phases, Phase I was the time when institutions were under the threat of terrorist attack and phase II was when they come out of high alerts (A-B design). Data was collected from two main institutions of Multan City i.e. Bahauddin Zakariya University and Nishter Medical College. Death Anxiety Scale and Social Interaction Anxiety scale were used. Sample of 205 individuals age ranged from 18-27 years old were included. For analysis, paired sample T-test was done to explore the differences. Findings of the study revealed significant differences, Social interaction (p