Using a social discounting task to measure differential personal information sharing

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cybersecurity
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Previous research indicates personal information is shared similarly to money.
• Online scams, such as phishing, exploit the sharing of personal information.
• No prior studies have quantified differences in sharing across various personal information types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differential sharing rates for four types of personal information: identification, financial, health, and security.
• To assess the utility of a modified social discounting task for measuring personal information sharing behavior.

Main Methods:

• A between-participant experiment was conducted with 100 college-aged participants.
• A modified social discounting task was employed to measure willingness to share different forms of personal information.
• Discounting rates for identification, financial, health, and security information were compared.

Main Results:

• Participants exhibited a significantly higher discounting rate for health information compared to identification, financial, and security information.
• This suggests health information is shared more readily than other types.
• No significant differences in discounting rates were found among identification, financial, and security information.

Conclusions:

• The social discounting task is a valid method for assessing differential personal information sharing.
• Health information appears to be shared more willingly, potentially increasing vulnerability to targeted scams.
• Further research is needed to explore the reasons behind this differential sharing and its implications for phishing susceptibility.