Blending Media, Personality & Trust: An experimental study of Dutch citizens’ perceptions regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competences in protecting privacy data

Blending Media, Personality & Trust

An experimental study of Dutch citizens’ perceptions

regarding trustworthiness towards the government and

their competences in protecting privacy data

Master’s thesis Crisis- and Security Management Rosanna Admiraal

S1440292

Leiden University – Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs Submitted on Sunday 09th of June 2019

Word count: 22.679

First Reader: Dr. T van Steen Second Reader: Dr. ir. V Niculescu-Dincă

Preface

This thesis is written to graduate in a master’s degree in Crisis- and Security Management at Leiden University, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. I would like to dedicate this master’s thesis to my beloved younger brother Rowin Admiraal who has shown nothing but courage and strength while battling against Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. He has taught me to believe in your own strengths and never underestimate your own capacities. These life lessons came in handy while studying the master in Crisis- and Security Management and conducting scientific research.

By means of this preface I also want to thank people who have contributed while I was completing this master’s thesis. I want to thank my supervisor dr. Tommy van Steen for the guidance and feedback during the writing process. Especially his guidance in the initial phase of this thesis was very helpful to me. Next, I want to thank my mother and boyfriend Mark for supporting me to complete this master’s study. Finally, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the great time I had as a student of Leiden University.

The Hague, June 2019 Rosanna Admiraal                    

Abstract

Within the Netherlands as of May 2018, a social debate has been slumbering after the Dutch general Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) and the Defence Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) have received additional privacy related competences. The broadening of security competences is characteristic for today’s information age where personal data has become valuable. By the rise of E-governments the (re)use of privacy data puts governments in a vulnerable position because of possible cyber threats. The perceptions of opponents within the social debate were against broadening of competences, as they considered governmental institutions incompetent in managing and protecting private data of citizens. Although the perceptions of the opponents were fierce, it is not clear what factors exactly caused the resistance. A possible contributing factor could have been media coverage that frequently reported about possible risks that came with broadening of security competences for governments. The primary purpose of this master thesis is to conduct an experiment to study whether neutral, positive and negative media exposure affects Dutch citizens’ perception regarding trustworthiness in their government and their competences of protecting privacy sensitive data. The secondary purpose of this study is to explore whether personality traits influence Dutch citizens’ perception regarding to trust in the government and their competences in data protection. Based on the literature of the Trust and Risk in E-government adoption-model, an online survey was distributed among Dutch citizens. Participants were randomly assigned to a control-, or intervention group wherein they were shown a neutral, negative or positive media message. Subsequently, they were asked to respond on questions regarding general trust in humanity; trust in the internet; use intentions; perceived risk; trust of the government; and trust in governments’ competences. Analysis of the responses demonstrated that media exposure is not likely to influence Dutch citizens’ perception regarding trustworthiness in the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data. In similar, the same result turned out to be applicable on personality traits that were also not likely to influence perceptions of Dutch citizens. Further qualitative research is necessary to identify what factors are likely to influence the perceptions of trust in the government and their competence in protecting privacy sensitive data; as it is relevant to explore ‘why’ media exposure was not likely to affect Dutch citizens’ perceptions towards the government.

Index

1.2 Research Question and Sub-Questions ... 8

1.3 Goals and objectives ... 9

1.4 Societal Relevance ... 9

1.5 Academic Relevance ... 10

1.6 Reading guide ... 10

Part 2: Literature review ... 10

2.1 E-government and personal private data ... 11

2.1.1 E-government purposes and benefits ... 11

2.1.2 The use privacy sensitive data by the Dutch government ... 12

2.1.3. Protection of privacy sensitive data by the Dutch government ... 14

2.1.4 E-government vulnerabilities ... 15

2.1.5 E-government risks and concerns ... 16

2.1.6 Legal regulation and solutions ... 18

2.2 Trustworthiness towards government ... 18

2.3 The influence of media and personality ... 20

2.3.1 Media and perception ... 20

2.3.2 Personality and perception ... 21

2.4 Hypotheses ... 22

Part 3: Methodology ... 24

3.1 Literature review methodology ... 24

3.2 Research design methodology ... 25

3.3. Dependent- and independent variables ... 25

3.4 Conceptual model ... 26

3.5 Operational model of variables ... 28

3.6 Material ... 31

3.7 Procedure ... 34

3.9 Preparation prior to analysis ... 37

3.10 Analysis strategy ... 40

3.11 Assessment of limitations ... 40

Part 4: Statistical results and analysis ... 41

4.1 Normality testing ... 42

4.2 Reliability testing ... 42

4.3 Control testing of data ... 43

4.4. Descriptive statistics ... 44

4.4.1 Demographics research population ... 45

4.1.2 Demographics control- and intervention groups ... 45

4.1.3 Descriptives of personality traits ... 46

4.1.4 Descriptives from factors of risk and trust in E-government adoption model 48 4.2 Statistical testing: trust towards government ... 51

4.3 Statistical pre- and post-testing of ‘Use intentions’ ... 53

4.4 Use intentions in relation to perceptions of trustworthiness and competence ... 54

4.5 Statistical testing: influence of personality on perception ... 55

4.6 Discussion: hypotheses testing ... 59

Part 5: Conclusion ... 62

5.1 Answering sub- and research questions ... 62

5.2 Results in relation to academic discourse ... 65

5.3 Limitations and recommendations ... 66

Bibliography ... 68

Appendix A: Demographic -part of survey ... 75

Appendix B: Personality -part of survey ... 77

Appendix C: Trustworthiness government -part of survey ... 79

Appendix D: Self-created questions – part survey ... 81

Appendix E: Positive media message ... 82

Appendix F: Negative media message ... 83

Appendix G: Neutral media message ... 84

Appendix H: Control questions – part survey ... 85

Appendix I: Factor analysis ‘Trust in Competence’. ... 86

Appendix J: Normality testing ... 87

List of abbreviations

AIVD: Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service AP: The Dutch Data Protection Authority

AVG: General Data Protection Regulation BRP: Personal Records Database

CBS: Central Bureau of Statistics GDP: Gross Domestic Product

ISSA: Intelligence and Security Services Act JID: Judicial Information Service

MIVD: Defence Intelligence and Security Service RIVM: Public Health and Environment Hygiene SQL: Structured Query Language

UGT: Uses and Gratifications Theory XSS: Cross Site Scripting

Part 1: Introduction

1.1 Problem outline

As of May 1st 2018 the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) and the Defence Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) have received additional competences. The competences are broadened to access private personal data of citizens with the purpose of keeping the nation safe from (imminent) dangers and threats. The AIVD and MIVD do this by monitoring suspicious persons and their use of communication channels. This course of action is supported by competences that are regulated in the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2018 (ISSA). Broadening of these competences was deemed essential as the previous ISSA originates from 2002, an era where social media and communication channels were less developed (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018a).

Hence, broadening of security competences is characteristic for today’s information age era since personal data has become more valuable in society because it is aggregated, shared and sold for facilitating purposes (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115). This also applies to the current means that todays’ governments use and who are embedded in the concept: E-government. E-government is the use of internet and information technologies by government authorities in order to interact with citizens and other (non)governmental organizations (Dowding, 2011: p. 210).

By the rise of E-government the reuse and sharing of collected privacy sensitive data among different organizations, allows a decrease of administrative tasks. However, it also puts E-government in a vulnerable position because government authorities can be kept accountable for potential cyber-attacks, data leaks and (unintentional) privacy breaches of private information that belongs to citizens (Degrave, Habra & Vanderose, 2015: p. 110). Therefore, the use of competences regarding privacy sensitive data of citizens within the E-government domain is only allowed under strict conditions and supervision, since governments are consorted with utmost care in order to prevent unnecessary infringement of sensitive data (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018a).

Ever since the Dutch security services have announced that their competences will expand, the topic has been frequently covered in social debates with outspoken opinions of citizens and experts. Opponents and advocates have been debating about the advantages and disadvantages of additional competences within the 2002 ISSA.

Advocates of an ISSA reform argued that broadening of competences was necessary to keep the Netherlands safe, while opponents were afraid that security services would constantly monitor Dutch citizens in addition to not being capable of managing and securing the big amount of collected privacy sensitive data (Van Lonkhuyzen, 2018). The result of the 2017 consultative referendum resulted in a majority of votes against this law, forcing the government to reconsider its position on the broadened legislation. However, it is important to note that a consultative referendum is not binding and therefore the new ISSA took effect on the 1st of May 2018 (Kiesraad, 2018).

The opinions of the opponents against broadening of the new ISSA, illustrate the social debate regarding the Dutch government as being incompetent for the management and the guarantee of citizens’ collected private data in todays’ information age era. However, it is not entirely clear what exact factors caused the fierce resistant by opponents who are against broadening of the 2002 ISSA. A possible contributing factor can be media coverage that highlight different sides of the ISSA broadening issue, causing a prepossessed perception about the governments’ competence of protecting collected private data. Therefore, it is interesting to conduct research on whether media messages are contributing factors that influence the perceptions of Dutch citizens with regard to trustworthiness in their government and their competence in protecting privacy sensitive data. In addition, this study looks in an explanatory manner whether a relationship exists between personality traits among Dutch citizens and the extent to which Dutch citizens deem the government to be trustworthy and competent in protecting privacy sensitive data.

1.2 Research Question and Sub-Questions

The aim of this study is to answer the following research question:

Does media exposure have an influence on the perceptions of Dutch citizens regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data?

In order to answer this research question the following sub-questions will be assessed: 1. What type of privacy sensitive data does the Dutch government collect and store

2. What type of media exposure can have an influence on Dutch citizens’ perceptions of trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data?

3. What personality traits within the Dutch society have a relation with positive or negative perceptions regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data?

1.3 Goals and objectives

The goal of this research is to study whether media exposure has an influence on perceptions of Dutch citizens’ with regarding trustworthiness of the government and competence of protecting collected privacy sensitive data. Therefore, this research attempts to study the impact of a neutral, negative and positive media message on the Dutch citizens’ perception of how much they trust their national government.

A substantiated goal of this research is to explore if and- what personality traits of Dutch citizens affect their perception regarding to the trust that they have or do not have in the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data. Thus, this research attempts to explore whether personality traits retrieved from the Big Five taxonomy (John and Srivastava, 1999) are dominant during the formation of perceptions regarding to trustworthiness of the government and their private data protection competences.

1.4 Societal Relevance

The attitudes and perceptions of citizens towards the government are important concerns for democracies and therefore worthwhile to study. Moreover, this research is socially relevant since it can offer insights to governmental institutions in their transition to E-governments, regarding the public perception in todays’ information era, where citizens’ private data is necessary for the performance of E-government services. In addition, results of this study invites one to adopt a self-reflective attitude regarding the extent to which they trust what the content of media channels proclaim. If an emphasis on self-reflective attitudes arises, it can counteract polarization to some extent since it will encourage citizens to think rationally for themselves instead of considering media as the one and only truth.

1.5 Academic Relevance

This research also seeks to contribute to the academic discourse concerning the trustworthiness of governments. By applying neutral, negative and positive media messages as an intervention in this research, new insights will arise on how media coverage can influence citizens’ perceptions regarding the competence of private data protection by the government. This will contribute in specific to the academic discourse as barely research is conducted about directional aspects of media content (Mutz, 1998: p. 68). Moreover, this study will especially contribute to the government-trustworthiness discourse since it has a specific focus on exploratively studying whether personality traits can be seen as a factor that relates to the level of trust Dutch citizens have, or do not have in their government regarding their competence of private data protection. This aspect in particular serves as a contribution to the academic discourse as it has not been studied extensively before. 1.6 Reading guide

After introducing the topic of this research in the introduction, the second section will outline a broad literature review describing the concepts of how E-government is adopted; what E-government entails; Data protection; E-government in relation to privacy; trustworthiness towards the government; and lastly this section will provide theory about the influence of media and personality traits on (political) perception and behaviour. The third section of this study describes the methodology behind the experimental research and how the survey is conducted among the participants. In the fourth section statistical results retrieved from the survey dataset will be discussed and analysed in order to accept or reject the hypotheses. Finally, in the fifth section of this study answers on the sub- and research questions will follow, accompanied by limitations and suggestions for follow-up research.

Part 2: Literature review

This chapter will address the main theoretical concepts that stem from the research question ‘Does media exposure have an influence on the perceptions of Dutch citizens regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data?’. This theoretical literature framework will review past literature conducted on the topic of E-government in relation to citizens’ perceptions

about trustworthiness towards the government and the possible role that media and personality traits have on public perceptions The following main concepts are elaborated on: E-government and personal private data; Trustworthiness (towards government); and the influence of media and personality. Lastly this section concludes with the presentation of its hypotheses.

2.1 E-government and personal private data

The use of E-government services is a much emerging phenomenon among national governments worldwide, since public authorities need to keep up with the developments in todays’ society where (social) media and the internet play a significant role. Governments in developed countries spent approximately 1% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on information systems and electronic presence in order to interact with citizens and (non) governmental institutions. A part of the capacity of such technological systems is that governments have to collect, store and analyse privacy sensitive data about their citizens in order to keep up with the emerging trends in the public domain. In similar, the private data collection is necessary in order to go along with the reshaping trend where the relationship between governments and citizens are digitalized (Dowding, 2011, p: 210). In addition, another fact that endorses the rise of E-governments is that over 90% of United Nations member states make use of government websites and engage their citizens in E-government systems and services in order to fulfil their authorised tasks as efficient as possible (Mukerji &Palanisamy 2012: 236 as stated in Swartz 2004). 2.1.1 E-government purposes and benefits

As addressed earlier in the introduction, E-government entails the use of interconnected information systems where government institutions and other public orientated actors are able to exchange large amounts of information (Bhattacharya, 2015: p.114). Governments use E-government by means of internet and other related information technologies that in turn increase the state’s competence to influence societal behaviour with possible intention of controlling their citizens (Dowding, 2011: p. 210). The main objective of E-government services is to achieve administrative efficiency, transparency and competitiveness in the global economy (Mukerji & Palanisamy, 2012, p: 236). To endorse the fact that the use of E-government is rising, it is worth mentioning that E-government agencies have adopted information technologies to modernize their fragmented service-centric information

infrastructure (Bhattacharya, 2015: p.114). In order to do so, governments use the internet as a means for the delivery of their services and information (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115).

This digitalized way of governing brings several benefits. The benefits comprise an improvement in the quality of information supply, along with a decrease of work-process time and administrative burdens. Moreover, operational costs will decline correspondingly. The final benefit that prevails is an increased service level towards the citizens due to better work efficiency and customer satisfaction (Mukerji & Palanisamy, 2012: p. 237 as stated in Chevallerau 2005).

2.1.2 The use privacy sensitive data by the Dutch government

By aiming to achieve more efficiency and transparency E-government services are dependent of collecting and using personal information of their citizens. The latter is common because in the current information age era, personal information has become valuable because in this era as it can be aggregated, shared and sold for public service purposes (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 114-115.). However, as governments want to improve electronic delivery services by the use of E-government, more personally identifiable data has to be collected of citizens. This collected data is being put onto networks and are thus amenable to possible violation of protection constraints since the current internet technologies bears concerns for citizens’ privacy (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 114). There are multiple definitions of ‘privacy’. With regard to this study, privacy can best be described in terms of information control and autonomy over personal matters (Moore, 2008, p. 412). Academics have also emphasized that privacy can be seen as a condition of not having undocumented personal knowledge about one that is possessed by others (Moore, 2008, p. 12 as stated in Parent, 1983, p. 269).

The information that governments collect and store are vulnerable for privacy violation as it is related to identification-, health- and vehicle registration information (Degrave et al. 2015: p. 111). Many of this personal sensitive data are to be found throughout files of several governmental institutions. A specific selection of the data that is being collected is information such as property ownership, occupational licenses, tax records, electronic transactions, voter registration and other personal information as ID number, fingerprints, name, address, value of property, birthdate, and physical characteristics (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115). The Dutch government in specific is transparent about the fact that they keep record of personal information that

appear in the ‘Personal Records Database’ (BRP). This system registers personal information as names, sex, citizen service number, residence, nationality, voters’ rights, travel documentation and birth date. In addition, the Dutch government also records information about vehicles and information of citizens’ relatives (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018b). This personal data is being collected by governmental institutions when citizens want to make use of certain public services that the government provides. Think of such as obtaining and filing government forms, applying for welfare programs, other forms of employment and permits, commenting on policy issues and filing tax return (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115).

Besides being transparent about what type of personal information is being recorded, the Dutch government is likewise transparent about what governmental organizations have clearance to access personal information. Therefore, each citizen is able to inform which organizations have received personal data derived from the BRP (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018b). The portal of ‘mijnoverheid.nl’ is a website wherein each Dutch citizen is able to arrange government affairs. This portal makes it accessible for citizens to see which personal information regarding to work, pension, housing, vehicles and education is known at the governmental institutions (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018c).

Depending on ones’ situation, several governmental institutions have clearance to personal information derived from the BRP. These institutions are municipalities; pension funds; educational organizations; health care organizations such as hospitals; the National Institute for Public Health and Environmental Hygiene (RIVM); research organizations such as the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS); and tax organizations such as the Dutch tax authorities and regional tax offices.

The final, and most relevant group that has access to personal information of the BRP are law enforcement- and public order organizations such as the Dutch police and ministries (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018d). The Central Information Point Research Telecommunication (CIOT) is a relevant actor within law enforcement, as it manages an automated information system for telephone- and online data. The CIOT is part of the Judicial Information Service (JID) and supplies personal information of citizens such as IP addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and forwards these to security- and intelligence services if necessary. With this personal data, governmental institutions as the AIVD are able to detect criminal

suspects (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, 2019). However, it is not transparent what personal information the AIVD and MIVD actually retrieve and use of Dutch citizens, besides personal information derived from the BRP. Nevertheless, it is possible for citizens to submit a request to the responsible ministry in order to recall what personal information has been recorded (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2018e).

2.1.3. Protection of privacy sensitive data by the Dutch government

The Dutch government emphasizes that governmental institutions that retrieve personal data from the BRP, monitors the privacy of Dutch citizens with utters care to guarantee the privacy of all citizens. The main strategy of the Dutch government to secure personal information of its citizens is to adopt strict regulation who has access to which personal information (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, 2019). The idea behind this strategy, is to ensure that not too many governmental institutions have clearances to personal information that indirect may lead to a greater potential of privacy breaches.

In order to minimize the risk of endagering privacy sensitive information, governmental organizations are strictly allowed to only use personal data while performing their tasks. However, all governmental institutions that do have access to citizens’ personal information retrieved from the BRP have the right to process, or share personal information with partner institutions. If these institutions want to process or share personal information with partners, this needs to be done according to a set of conditions that serves the purpose of guarding the privacy of all citizens. These conditions are anchored in the ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (AVG) what made its appearance on the 25th of May 2018 (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, 2018).

The AVG is the European legislation that states the responsibility of governments, organizations and companies in order to protect the personal data of European citizens. Supplementary, this European legislation also states what rights citizens have with regard to their own privacy sensitive data (Bak, 2019). The AVG is based on six principles for the processing of personal data. A government or organization may only process personal data if there is a legitimate basis for it. In this way the sharing and processing of personal data is only being performed as long it is necessary and in line with one of the six principles. This in order to prevent personal

data being transferred and processed no more often than necessary, with a goal of minimizing the dangers of privacy violation. The first principle assumes that a citizen involved needs to give consent for their personal data to be processed. Other principles include that personal data can be processed, as long the data is necessary for the implementation of an agreement; or for compliance with a legal obligation. The fourth principle assumes that personal data may only be processed when vital interests are at stake. The fifth principle allows data processing, as long it is necessary for the performance of tasks with regard to public interests or public authority purposes. The final principle comprises data processing, as long it is necessary for the protection of legitimate interests (Bak, 2019).

Besides the AVG, there is an additional control mechanism to minimize the chances of privacy information violation. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, AP) supervises compliance within the legal rules of the AVG (Bak, 2019). _{Each governmental institution, organization or private business} that records personal information of citizens must report this to the AP as they can keep an overview of what institutions make claims on what personal information. Their legal task is to assess whether governmental institutions, organizations and businesses comply with the performance of the AVG and do not perform unlawful acts. Other important tasks of the AP are alternative interventions; advising the government on new regulations; and providing information regarding privacy legislation (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, n.d.).

2.1.4 E-government vulnerabilities

As previously mentioned, the collection of personal data retrieved from citizens by the government, has become common in todays’ information age era in order to lower the administrative burden and to improve efficiency and transparency. The information age began in the 20th century and is still evolving up till today. In the 2000’s it has transitioned into an era where information is regarded to be a formative force of civilization (Van Keulen, 2018: p. 37).However, while improving efficiency and transparency during the information age era, governments’ storing and protection of personal privacy sensitive data poses concerns regarding to privacy issues (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115) as well as data protection issues (Degrave et al., 2015: p. 110). With regard to the information age era, already in the 1980’s scientists have predicted that the use of information technologies during this era would lead to

privacy related concerns. Information privacy can refer to the desire of citizens to control or influence the data that has been collected about them (Bélanger & Crossler, 2011: p. 1017) since they have the right to have their personal information protected from trade and profit without their consent (Bhattacharya, 2015: p.116.). The vulnerabilities regarding privacy issues occur because of the emerging use E-government services whereby E-governments operate more transparent and efficient due to the reuse of personal data and sharing purposes among different administrations (Degrave, et al., 2015: p. 110). While transparency towards different administrations serves democratic values, the latter also pose several risks that will be addressed in detail.

2.1.5 E-government risks and concerns

Privacy concerns are increasing among internet users because of the emerge of databases, collection of personal data and the loss of control over privacy sensitive data (Balasubramanian, Sarabdeen & Rodrigues, 2014: p. 266). Therefore, possible concerns and risks that come along with the rise of E-government can be categorized in to two parts that interlink with each other. The first risk- and concern part mainly lies within the fear that government isn’t capable of retaining and protecting privacy sensitive data against misuse by cyber criminals; and possible misuse by government agents. The second part lies within the fear of abuse by cyber criminals. With regard to the first part Sarabdeen et al. (2014) describe several privacy inherent risks within the responsibility spheres of government agencies. The first concern they describe, are perceived internet privacy risks which entail the uncertainty of electronic transactions that are related to data losses. This is due to potential errors that cannot longer provide protection from accidental or intentional errors. The latter, is inherent to the doubt that prevails among citizens, regarding the belief that government authorities do not store privacy sensitive information in a secure manner (Sarabdeen et al., 2014: p.267-268).

The secondary use of personal data among government agencies without the consent of citizens poses another concern. This is mainly the case because citizens do not know for what secondary purposes their data will or can be used besides the original purpose (Sarabdeen et al., 2014: p.267-268). This concern is endorsed by Bhattacharrya (2015) as he substantiates that the most important issue lies within the limited trust of citizens that is caused by the fact that government request personal

information in order to make use of public services, while this information can possibly be secondary used, as it can be shared with partner administrations. Therefore, the willingness of citizens to reveal personal information is accompanied by the concern that the government lacks protection measures, as it is not entirely clear for what purposes personal data can be used. The crux of the matter is that citizens therefore become more hesitant; and solely want to share personal information if the use of the public service is worth the price of possible diminished privacy (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115-116).

The last concern regards possible improper access of personal information in databases, which is possibly accessible for government agents from certain partner institutions. This illustrates the possible likelihood that government employees can misuse personal data if there is no adequate safeguard that monitors possible data misuse by government agents (Sarabdeen et al., 2014: p.267-268). Degrave et al. (2015) substantiates this as they explain that public agents can cross-check private information to conduct a full profile of a citizens which makes such an abuse much easier (Degrave et al., 2015: p. 111)

Besides the fear that government agents could be the ones that commit theft or misuse data, there are also concerns regarding the lack of protection against cybercrime. To go into the latter, a possible fear comprises that authorities cannot guarantee safety for the large amount of personal information that they retain and store within their files (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 115).

The second part of concerns that will be discussed, explains the concerns that cyber criminals pose for stored privacy data due to emerging use of E-government services. A possible concern that comes along with the competence of governments’ storing privacy sensitive data are cyberspace identity thefts that violate citizens’ privacy. Citizens may create a barrier to use E-government services that request personal information since these internet means can become targets for cyber-attacks and terrorists. These types of intrusions can harm E-government services and all retained personal information throughout governments’ files (Mukerji & Palanisamy, 2012: p. 27). The latter can be endorsed by the following figures that show that approximately 82% of E-government websites worldwide are vulnerable to common cyber-attacks as Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections (Mukerji & Palanisamy, 2012: p.237). XSS can be explained as a failure in the security system of a web application which allows the cyber attacker to take over

a user’s interface and enhance the functionality of databases in order to access personal information of citizens with the possibility of stealing it (Fogie, Hansen, Grossman, Petkov & Rager, 2007: p. 6). In addition, SQL serves the purpose for cyber attackers to access databases through bypass authentication, in order to take advantages of flaws in the system. Once intruded in a system, cyber criminals have access to privacy sensitive data of citizens, together with the opportunity to moderate and destroy databases (Chen, Lin, Liu, Sun & Wu, 2016: p. 5280). Equivalently, academic studies have found that nearly 90% of E-government websites were also vulnerable for cyber intrusions as DoS attacks and unauthorized access to networks to commit online financial fraud. These examples of cyber-attacks cause the fear of privacy violation performed by criminals and the risk of them stealing or misusing it (Mukerji & Palanisamy, 2014: p. 881).

2.1.6 Legal regulation and solutions

If governments would have a legal regulation framework that concurs cyber criminality in order to protect citizens’ privacy, citizens are more benevolent to cede personal information while making use of E-government services (Sarabdeen et al. 2014: p. 267). In addition, according to Bhattacharya (2015) there are some privacy enhancing solutions that may remove fear among citizens with regard to possible data- breaches and leaks at databases of governmental institutions. A first possible solution may be the implementation of technologies that can help government to address privacy concerns in E-Government initiatives. For instance, the use of encryption where only people that have access to the encryption key could see, enhance or use this personal data (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 119-120). Moreover, encryption makes it useless for cyber criminals to infiltrate in a system, as all data will be displayed as meaningless strings of text. Another solution can be anonymized data analysis. This technology allows data holders, in this case the government, to analyse information while the privacy data stays protected and secured. This technology would enable data analysis of information derived from several sources, without the data being stored in one file that can be read or misused for malicious purposes (Bhattacharya, 2015: p. 121).

2.2 Trustworthiness towards government

Dwivedi, Janssen, Rana & Slade (2017: p. 647) describe that todays’ governments are struggling with the relationship with their citizens. According to Mithas, Morgeson &

Van Amburg (2011) this falling trend has been occurring since the 1960’s in most Western democracies. A contributing factor to this fall is the perception of a decreased performance by governments (Morgeson, Mithan & VanAmburg (2011: p.258-259).

E- governance technologies are regarded as a possible outcome to improve the governments’ relationship with its inhabitants (Dwivedi et al., 2016: p. 647). As discussed earlier, citizens are reluctant to adopt E-government services due to a lack of security against cyber threats; and a lack of trust towards government agencies regarding the level of clearance that these government agents have to citizens’ personal information (Bélanger & Cartner, 2008: p. 165). However, Mossberger & Tolbert (2006) claim that E-government must be considered as a solution for the decreasing trust, since it strives a transparent way of working that promotes efficient delivery of civil services to restore trust among the public (Mossberger & Tolbert, 2006: p. 354).

That same article endorses this by addressing effectiveness, accessibility, responsiveness, transparency and trust as the most important benefits of E-government services (Mossberger & Tolbert, 2006: p. 359). With regards to the latter, Dwivedi et al. (2017) describe that the concept of trust consists out of the following components: ability, benevolence and integrity (Dwivedi et al., 2017: p.650). The article of Hong (2013) elaborates on this by substantiating elements as integrity, dependability, competence, reliability, consistency, honesty and accountability to be relevant components of trust as well (Hong 2013: 448 as stated in Ki & Hon 2007; Moorman, Deshpande & Zaltman 1993; Morgan & Hunt 1994).

As Mossberger & Tolbert (2006) describe that transparency and trust are benefits of E-government, Dwivedi et al. (2017: p. 650) address in their literature that transparency in turn must be considered as a prerequisite of trust among citizens regarding to how they feel about their government. Hence, the fact that transparency influences the degree in trust towards the government, explains how citizens may feel hesitant about the governments’ competence of storing and protecting personal data as they share these data in a transparent manner with partner government agencies or with the public.

2.3 The influence of media and personality

Within this paragraph the influence of media and personality traits on perceptions will be discussed. Likewise, the extent to which both concepts relate to each other will be discussed.

2.3.1 Media and perception

A study of Hinnant, Moon & Welch (2005) has shown that citizens receiving information about E-government, stimulates positive perceptions about governments’ effectiveness and trustworthiness. In similar, several studies have indicated that media exposure where information is being provided, can have an impact on perceptions of citizens. Field (2005) elaborates on this by explaining that media fulfils a roll of shaping public perceptions and opinions about political and social issues. The author claims that media shapes the thoughts and beliefs of the public about what occurs in the world, as how these events are reported in the news. The findings of Field (2005) are endorsed by Lee & Hong (2012) and Wanta, Golan & Lee (2004) as they conjointly claim that media influence has revealed potent relationships between media coverage and perceptions of citizens. In addition, Field (2005) stresses that mass media introduces reality in the lives of the public and the public becomes reliant on media exposure in order to create a conceptualized image of the world (Field, 2005: p. 2-3). Furthermore, Mutz (1998) adds that media exposure helps to determine the perceptions of the collective, as it is important while forming political judgement (Mutz, 1998: p. 146).

According to Ferguson (2015) already a number of theories have discussed how media and the public interact. These theories fall into a spectrum from ‘hypodermic needle models’ on the one side, to ‘limited effects models’ on the other side. Hypodermic needle models indicate that media has a direct and predictable causal effect on the perception or behaviour of individuals. This is endorsed by the thought that human behaviour is mechanistic and unconsciously responsive to external influence caused by media exposure (Ferguson, 2015: p.26-27). A relevant theory within the discourse of hypodermic needle model is the Cultivation theory of George Gebner. This theory explains that watching television is strongly associated with a tendency to hold specific and distinct perceptions of reality that is complete compatible of what the media proclaims (Morgan & Shanahan, 1999: p. 3).

However, in the mid 1950’s the hypodermic needle approach diminished and the academic discourse introduced limited effect approaches (Ferguson, 2015: p. 28). The latter indicates that media effects are subtle and characteristic for individuals who can understand and interpret media messages according to their own perception. Repeatedly, this is in contrast to hypodermic needle models that consider media exposure as a direct causal effect on the perception of individuals (Ferguson, 2015: p. 26). Within the limited effect models, there are several theories that elaborate on how individuals choose their media channels. The Uses and Gratifications theory (UGT) is one that is worthwhile to address in this section. The UGT way of thinking shifts the paradigm of ‘how media affects individuals’, to ‘how individuals interact with media exposure’. The UGT makes clear that exposure to media is not accidental, and that there is no straight-line effect of media content on attitude and behaviour. Instead, the public seeks out for particular forms of media depending on what specific needs must be satisfied and how it can contribute to their perceptions. In similar, can be said that the public is active and that they choose their media exposure in a goal oriented manner (Blulmer, Gurevitch & Katz, 1973: p. 509-511). Ferguson (2015) endorses this by elaborating on the idea that different type of people is drawn to different types of media exposure. In turn, this responds in different ways of understanding issues or events (Ferguson, 2015: p. 36). Mutz (1998) elaborates on the limited effect models, as she stresses that citizens are not doomed to conformity by the hand of those who shape and control media content (Mutz, 1998: p. 270).

2.3.2 Personality and perception

Goldberg, Rentfrow & Zilca (2011) have shown how personality determines media choices. This study points out that individuals seek out specific media messages as it contributes to identity forming and- or companionship with their surroundings. Goldberg et al. (2011) elaborates that personality characteristics and demographic factors have an influence on what individuals expect to distract from their chosen media message. In addition, both demographics as personality are interlinked to preferences for chosen media messages (Goldberg et al., 2011: p. 227). With regard to the latter, the personality traits of the Big Five taxonomy will be used in this study to find out which of these personality traits influence perceptions of people. The Big Five Dimensions taxonomy classifies each participant’s personality according to five dimensions (John and Srivastava, 1999). These dimensions serve as an integrative

function because it represents several personality description systems within a framework (John & Srivastava, 1999: p. 3). The Big Five taxonomy exists out of the following five dimensions. The first dimension ‘E’ stands for Extraversion, Energy and Enthusiasm; The second dimension ‘A’ stands for Agreeableness, Altruism, Affection; the third dimension ‘C’ stands for Conscientiousness, Control and Constraint; the fourth dimension ‘N’ stands for Neuroticism, Negative Affectivity, Nervousness; and the final dimension ‘O’ stand for Openness, Originality, Open-mindedness (John & Srivastava, 1999: p. 30-31). Cooper, Golden and Socha (2013) claimed that certain personality traits retrieved from the Big Five Taxonomy help to explain mass political opinions and behaviour. According to their study, the personality traits ‘Openness’, ‘Agreeableness’, ‘Conscientiousness’ and ‘Extraversion’ help to explain citizens’ public perception and political behaviour. The only personality trait that according to the literature does not influence political perception or – behaviour is the personality trait ‘Neuroticism’ (Cooper et al, 2013, p. 68). Supplementary, Gerber, Huber, Doherty, Dowling and Ha (2010) endorse the findings of Cooper et al. (2012). However, these authors emphasize that personality traits can have a different influence on perceptions as this differs per human race.

As Cooper et al. (2013) have studied the effect of personality traits on public opinion, there are also additional areas wherein the influence of personality traits has been studied. For example, in the E-commerce discourse personality characteristics are seen as underlying factors that influence human behaviour in a consistent manner during a variety of situations (Azam, Sharif & Qiang: 2013: 32). Most noteworthy, is that personality based psychological factors play a role in an individuals’ trust with regard to E-Commerce services (Azam, Sharif & Qiang: 2013: 36).

2.4 Hypotheses

As research already has been conducted about personality as a mean to explain political perception and behaviour, the additional goal of this study is to look in an exploratory manner whether personality traits retrieved from the Big Five taxonomy can be considered as factors that influence the extent in which an individual has trust in the government and governments’ competence of protecting privacy sensitive data. However, the main goal of this research is to study whether media exposure influence Dutch citizens’ perception regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting collected private data. This study does

so by randomly incorporating a positive, negative or neutral media message as an intervention in the survey to learn more about how different media messages might influence citizens’ perception about trustworthiness in the government and their ability of protecting private data.

The first hypothesis in this study assumes that media exposure does influence Dutch citizens’ perception regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting collected privacy sensitive data. Reason to predict this, is because according to the literature media shapes thoughts, beliefs and perceptions of people in the real world (Field: 2005, Mutz: 1998, Lee & Hong: 2012, Wanta et al.:2004). However, the extent to which media influences perceptions of people is not entirely clear as there exists a discourse between hypodermic needle models and limited effect models. Both endorse that media does affect perception but the difference lies within hypodermic needle theory that claim media has a lot of influence on perception; compared to limited effect theory claiming media influence is limited. Therefore, this hypothesis is worthwhile studying, in order to bring clarity in the extent to which media has a specific influence on the particular case of Dutch citizens trust in the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive information.

As a deepening of the first hypothesis, the second hypothesis in this study expects that positive media exposure will lead to positive perceptions towards trustworthiness of the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data, while negative media exposure will lead to negative perceptions regarding trustworthiness of the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data. No academic theory serves as a foundation for this hypothesis, as Mutz (1998) already has described that little research has been done on directional media aspects. However, it sounds plausible that negative exposure is coherent to negative perceptions, as positive exposure shows coherency to positive perceptions.

The final expectation of this study foresees that personality traits have influence on the positive and negative perceptions Dutch citizens have regarding to trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data. Reason to predict this, is because according to Azim et al. (2013) personality traits have already proven to influence perceptions and behaviour in E-commerce services. This given, makes it interesting to explore whether personality traits also influence perceptions on E-government (services). Moreover, according to

Cooper et al. (2013) ‘Openness’, ‘Agreeableness’, ‘Conscientiousness’ and ‘Extraversion’ are four of the Big Five personality traits that have an influence on public opinion and political behaviour. This hypothesis in specific will look into whether the same personality traits are applicable on perceptions regarding trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data.

Part 3: Methodology

The goal of this research is to study whether there exists a relationship between media exposure [moderated by a neutral, negative and positive media message] and the effect on the Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data. In addition, an explorative goal is to look into personality traits of Dutch citizens, in order to find out whether there exists a coherency between the personality and the perception citizens have regarding the trustworthiness of the government and their competences of private data protection. To study this potential relationship, an experiment will be conducted among adult Dutch citizens. The following sections effort to explain and elaborate on the methodology of the literature review; the research design; the variables involved; a conceptual- and operational model; used material; the research procedure; participants; preparation prior to analysis; the analysis strategy; and finally this chapter concludes with an assessment of limitations.

3.1 Literature review methodology

This study looks at trustworthiness of the government and their competence in securing collected privacy sensitive data of their citizens. In order to analyse these concerns a literature review was undertaken to illustrate the existing academic literature concerning the current information age era; what privacy sensitive data the (Dutch) government collects and how they are aiming to protect it; how privacy sensitive data can be used for E-government purposes; the risks that come along with E-government; citizens’ trust in the government; how media can influence the perceptions of citizens; and how personality traits affect political perception and behaviour.

3.2 Research design methodology

For this research design a quantitative method is chosen in order to study a possible relationship between media exposure and personality; as the perception of Dutch citizens on whether the government is considered capable in protecting privacy sensitive data. Quantitative research is defined as a method that deals with numbers and investigates phenomena and possible relationships in a systematic way. Measurable variables are used in order to explain, predict and control these phenomena. A quantitative research finally concludes with confirmation or disconfirmation of the hypotheses that were tested (Perumal, 2010, p. 87-88, as stated in: Leedy, 1993).

This study in particular makes use of a true experimental design (All Psych, 2018) since the participants of the survey will be randomly assigned to a control group, or one of the two intervention groups wherein they were exposed to a neutral, negative or positive media message. The control group serves as mean to measure a possible change that occurs in both of the intervention groups. An attempt is made to determine whether the intervention of a neutral, negative and positive message cause a possible change of citizens’ perception towards the trust of the government and their competence of protecting privacy sensitive data.

3.3. Dependent- and independent variables

In this experimental research the ‘Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government’ is the dependent variable as it is subsidiary to neutral, negative or positive media messages and ones’ personality. The latter factors can influence perceptions of individuals regarding the trust that they have in the government and their data protection competences.

‘Media coverage’ is the intervention within this experimental study, and is considered as an independent variable that exists out of three types. The first type of media coverage is a neutral media message that serves no substantive purpose, other than it serves as filler task. However, within this experimental study the filler task serves as a basis of the control group in order to compare the extent in which participants that belong to an intervention group deem the government as trustworthy. The second type of media coverage is a negative media message shown to intervention group I, regarding the governments’ competence in protecting privacy sensitive data. The third type of media coverage is a positive media message shown to

intervention group II that is likewise about the governments’ competence of private data protection.

Besides ‘Media coverage’, ‘Personality’ can be considered as an independent variable as well. Both of these variables are seen as independent because they will not be affected by the dependent variable ‘Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government’, but in turn possibly do affect the dependent variable ‘Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government’.

3.4 Conceptual model

Within the theoretical framework relevant concepts are covered. These concepts are displayed in figure 1 in order to create an overview and a clear understanding of the concepts. Accurately, these concepts illustrate what the independent variable ‘Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government’ entails.

3.5 Operational model of variables

The (in)dependent variables relevant for this study can be defined into measurable factors that were included as questions in the survey where a number of 197 participants contributed. In figure 2 an overview is shown that explains how the (in)dependent variables are measured.

Figure 2. Operationalization of dependent and independent variables.

The dependent variable ‘Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government’ is measured according to factor five ‘Trust of the Government’ of Bélanger and Carters’ (2008) explanatory model of Trust and Risk in E-government adoption; and by means of four self-created questions. Factor five ‘Trust of the Government’ contain the following statement questions: (1) ‘I think I can trust state government agencies’; (2) ‘State government agencies can be trusted to carry out online transactions faithfully’; (3) ‘I trust state government agencies keep my best interests in mind’; (4) ‘In my opinion, state government agencies are trustworthy. These questions serve to purpose to measure Dutch citizens’ perception of how trustworthy they consider the government to be.

This factor is accompanied by the following four self-created questions in order to measure the extent to which Dutch citizens believe the government is competent in protecting privacy sensitive information. This factor is referred to as

Independent

variable Personality

Measured by TIPI (Gosling et al., 2003) and factors one; two; and four (Bélanger and

‘Trust in Competence’ and entails the following statement questions: (1)‘Ik geloof dat overheidsinstanties voldoende acties ondernemen om de veiligheid van mijn privacy gegevens te waarborgen’; (2) ‘Ik geloof dat overheidsinstanties capabel genoeg zijn om mijn privacy gevoelige gegevens in beheer te hebben’; (3)‘Ik geloof dat overheidsinstanties voldoende zekerheden hebben ingebouwd om dreigingen met betrekking tot diefstal van privacy gegevens te minimaliseren’; (4)‘Ik geloof dat overheidsinstanties voldoende zekerheden hebben ingebouwd om dreigingen met betrekking tot misbruik van privacy gegevens te minimaliseren’. The first statement question of ‘Trust in Competence’ is regarded as the component that accounts for the answers of the other three questions within the factor ‘Trust in Competence’ as well. Therefore, while performing statistical tests in SPSS, only the first self-created question will be taken into account and will be generalized over the remaining three questions. See appendix I and paragraph 3.9 where the factor analysis is explained to retain self-created question (1) as the generalized component that accounts for the remaining three ‘Trust in Competence’ statement questions.

Factor three of Bélanger and Carters’ (2008) explanatory model of risk in E-government adoption contains questions about ‘Use Intentions’. This factor consists out of the following statement questions: (1) ‘I would use the web for gathering state government information’; (2) ‘I would use state governance services provided over the web’; (3) ‘I would interact with the state government over the web’; (4) ‘I would not hesitate to provide information to a state government website’. These questions are relevant to study because it gives information over Dutch citizens’ use intentions while handling civil affairs through E-government services. In addition, it is interesting to explore whether Dutch citizens’ use intentions show coherency with the extent to which they have trust in the government and their data protection competences. Considering this potential relation, it could be the case that without trust in government use intentions would be different, if citizens do have trust in the government. Within the survey ‘Use Intentions’ is measured twice among participants. ‘Use Intentions pre-test’ is measured before intervention of media, while ‘Use Intentions post-test’ is measured afterwards.

With regard to the independent variable ‘Media Coverage’, these are straightforward elements in the survey as they are considered to be interventions. These interventions are a neutral, negative and positive media messages and are randomly shown to participants of the survey.

Within the context of this study ‘Personality’ can be seen as an independent variable as well, as it might influence ‘Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government’. To be precise, personality is measured according to the Ten Item Personality (TIPI) measurement (Gosling, Rentfrow and Swann, 2003) that can be linked to the Big Five Dimensions taxonomy (John and Srivastava, 1999). In the survey the following TIPI personality traits are measured in order to operationalize the independent ‘Personality’ variable: (1)‘Extraverted, enthusiastic’; (2)‘Critical, quarrelsome’; (3)‘Dependable, self-disciplined’; (4)‘Anxious, easily upset’; (5)‘Open to new experiences, complex’; (6)‘Reserved, quiet’; (7)‘Sympathetic, warm’; (8) ‘Disorganized, careless’; (9)‘Calm, emotionally stable’; (10)‘Conventional, uncreative’ (Gosling et al., 2003). However, within the dataset each of these TIPI personality traits are converted into Big Five personality traits (OCEAN). Therefore in this thesis will be referred to the following personality traits: ‘Openness’; ‘Conscientiousness’; ‘Extraversion’; ‘Agreeableness’; and ‘Neuroticism’.1

In addition, as the independent variable ‘Personality’ is operationalized by means of the TIPI measurement, within the context of this study Bélanger and Carters’ (2008) factor one ‘Disposition to Trust’; factor two ‘Trust of the Internet’; and factor four ‘Perceived Risk’ also contribute in describing the personality of participant that take part in the experiment. These questions are useful in this research while explorative studying the personality aspect of Dutch citizens’ perception of trust in the government.

Factor one ‘Disposition to Trust’ contains the following statement questions: (1)‘I generally do not trust other people’; (2)‘I generally have faith in humanity’; (3) ‘I feel that people are generally reliable’; (4) ‘I generally trust other people unless they give me reason not to.

Factor two ‘Trust of the Internet” contains the following statement questions: (1) ‘The internet has enough safeguards to make me feel comfortable using it to transact personal business with state government agencies’; (2)‘I feel assured that legal and technological structures protect me from problems on the internet’; (3)‘The internet is a safe robust and safe environment in which to transact with state government agencies’.

1_{Table B. Paragraph 3.6 shows how the TIPI personality traits are converted into Big Five taxonomy}

Factor four ‘Perceived Risk’ contain the following statement questions: (1) ‘The decision of whether to use a state E-government service is risky’; (2) ‘In general, I believe using state government services over the internet is risky’ .Table A. shows a complete overview of the conceptual- and operational variables within the experimental study.

Table A.(In)dependent conceptual- and operational variables.

Independent Dependent

Conceptual variables

Dutch citizens’ perception of trustworthiness towards the government.

Media coverage Personality

Operational variables

Neutral media message. Negative media message. Positive media message.

‘Disposition to Trust’ ‘Trust of the Internet’ ‘Use Intentions pre-test’ ‘Use Intentions post-test’ ‘Perceived Risk’,

‘Trust of the ‘Government’ ‘Trust in Competence’ ‘Openness’ ‘Conscientiousness’ ‘Extraversion’ ‘Agreeableness’ ‘Neuroticism’ 3.6 Material

The aim of the survey is to collect primary data of Dutch citizens to measure the extent in which media exposure influences their perception of how trustworthy they consider their national government to be, regarding their task of private data protection. As most of the questions retrieved from academic studies were originally developed in English, for this study they were translated into the Dutch language in

order to make it more understandable for participants. In addition, the demographic questions that originated from an existing scale are slightly customized in order to make it more users friendly for participants of the survey.

For this survey, pre-existing questionnaires were adopted from several academic studies. Besides pre-existing questionnaires, there were also four statement questions self-created in order to measure Dutch citizens’ perception regarding the extent to which they believe that government institutions are capable of protecting privacy data; and whether they believe governments already have implemented sufficient safeguards to ensure protection against cyber threats. All questionnaires that were used in the survey are to be found in appendixes A, B, C and D. Each of the used materials that are used in the survey is addressed in the section below.

The first part of the survey contains a questionnaire where participants were asked to answer demographic oriented questions. These questions are retrieved from a study by Mitthas, Morgeson and Van Amberg (2011).

The second part of the survey is a personality test based on the Ten Item Personality (TIPI) measurement (Gosling et al., 2003). The TIPI measurement used in this study consists out of scale of ten questions that are converted into the personality traits of the Big Five Taxonomy and is translated by Sander Koole. Table B demonstrates how the personality traits of the TIPI measurement are converted into the five personality traits of the Big Five taxonomy.

Table B. TIPI measurement personality traits converted in Big Five personality traits.

TIPI personality traits Big Five Personality traits

‘Extraverted, Enthusiastic’ and reversed item ‘Reserved’, ‘Quiet’.

‘Extraversion’ Reversed item ‘Critical,

Quarrelsome’ and ‘Sympathetic, Warm’.

‘Agreeableness’

‘Dependable, Self-disciplined’ and the reversed item ‘Disorganized, Careless’.

‘Conscientiousness’

Reversed item ‘Anxious, Easily upset’ and ‘Calm, Emotionally stable’.

‘Neuroticism’

‘Open to new experiences, Complex’ and the reversed item ‘Conventional, Uncreative’.