NSF Org:	CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems
Recipient:	BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	March 4, 2022
Latest Amendment Date:	March 4, 2022
Award Number:	2210082
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Sara Kiesler skiesler@nsf.gov  (703)292-8643 CNS  Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE  Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Start Date:	July 1, 2022
End Date:	June 30, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$299,997.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$299,997.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2022 = $299,997.00
History of Investigator:	Jerry Fails (Principal Investigator) jerryfails@boisestate.edu John Ziker (Co-Principal Investigator) Kendall House (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Boise State University 1910 UNIVERSITY DR BOISE ID  US  83725-0001 (208)426-1574
Sponsor Congressional District:	02
Primary Place of Performance:	Boise State University 1910 University Drive Boise ID  US  83725-0001
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	02
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	HYWTVM5HNFM3
Parent UEI:	HYWTVM5HNFM3
NSF Program(s):	Secure &Trustworthy Cyberspace
Primary Program Source:	01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	114Z, 9150, 7916, 025Z, 7434, 065Z
Program Element Code(s):	806000
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.070, 47.075

ABSTRACT

The internet is a virtual social environment, where it can be difficult to discern genuine threats. The goal of this research is to develop new insights into parents' perceptions of online risks to their children. The project focuses on the parents of children in middle childhood, ages 6-12. The main goal is to gain insights that will inform the development of digital environments that more accurately align online dangers and parental fears. To address this alignment, this project brings together experts in evolutionary anthropology, computer science, and digital experience design in a novel interdisciplinary collaboration. The project will shed light on a theoretical framing, the digital ecology of fear. The project will advance a burgeoning new area of research and design that can impact cybersecurity for families.

The project will pursue the following three objectives: (1) develop method and theory to build basic behavioral knowledge that can inform new designs for digital ecologies that more accurately align risk and fear, (2) identify design guidelines, taking into consideration the effects of the digital ecology of fear, and (3), enrich the collaboration between computer science and anthropology by cross-training graduate students in relevant methods and concepts from both disciplines. Ecologies are influenced by several factors: environmental context, threats, risk perception, adaptive response, costs, and benefits. This project is identifying the ecological factors that influence the digital ecologies of fear using established research techniques and investigating new techniques to reveal the ecological, social, and individual factors activating fear of the digital-real world continuum. The project's mapping of the digital ecology of fear will identify guidelines that consider and ameliorate the effects of those factors.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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