Spectrum of Emotional Reactions to Terrorist Threat in Indirect Witnesses

Background. The psychological experience of intangible threats, such as terrorism, represents a significant but understudied area, particularly concerning the full spectrum of emotional responses in indirect witnesses who rely on media for information. Objective. This study aimed to systematically investigate the intensity, frequency, and objects of emotional reactions to the terrorist threat among young adults with no direct personal experience of terrorist acts, and to examine how these emotional profiles vary by gender and level of perceived threat. Method. Participants (N = 113; 80 women, 33 men; aged 18-40 years) from various regions of Russia completed the Questionnaire on the Experience of Terrorist Threat (QETT) and an author-designed emotion assessment form rating the intensity and frequency of 49 emotions, along with their perceived objects. Data were collected between February 2025 and February 2026. Results. The most intense emotions were empathic concern (sympathy, compassion, pity, sadness, grief), personal threat responses (fear, anxiety, horror), contempt, and hope. Men reported significantly higher intensity for 15 emotions, while women reported higher helplessness. Three threat-perception groups (low, moderate, high) were identified. A novel finding was the prevalence of “anxious hope”—the co-occurrence of high anxiety and high hope—in the high-threat group. Qualitative analysis revealed that emotions were primarily directed towards victims (empathy) and oneself/loved ones (personalization). Conclusions. The terrorist threat evokes a complex emotional landscape centered on empathic concern and personal vulnerability. The identification of “anxious hope” as a core feature of high threat perception offers a new framework for understanding adaptation to chronic, media-mediated threats. These findings have implications for assessing mental health risks and fostering resilience in populations exposed to the psychological impact of terrorism.

Спектр эмоциональных реакций на террористическую угрозу у косвенных свидетелей

Ю.В. Быховец

Институт психологии Российской академии наук, Москва, Россия

Резюме. Актуальность. Психологическое переживание невидимых угроз, таких как терроризм, представляет собой важную, но недостаточно изученную область исследований, особенно в отношении полного спектра эмоциональных реакций у косвенных свидетелей, получающих информацию через СМИ. Цель. Систематическое изучение интенсивности, частоты и объектов эмоциональных реакций на террористическую угрозу у молодых людей, не имеющих непосредственного личного опыта террористических актов, а также анализ различий в эмоциональных профилях в зависимости от пола и уровня воспринимаемой угрозы. Методы. Выборка составила 113 респондентов (80 женщин, 33 мужчины) в возрасте от 18 до 40 лет из различных регионов России. Участники заполнили Опросник переживания террористической угрозы (ОПТУ) и авторский бланк оценки эмоций, в котором оценивали интенсивность и частоту 49 эмоций, а также указывали их предполагаемые объекты. Сбор данных проводился с февраля 2025 по февраль 2026 года. Результаты. Наиболее интенсивными эмоциями оказались эмпатическое отношение (сочувствие, сострадание, жалость, печаль, горе), реакции на личную угрозу (страх, тревога, ужас), презрение и надежда. Мужчины отличаются значимо более высокой интенсивностью 15 эмоций, тогда как женщины — более выраженном чувстве беспомощности. Были выделены три группы с низким, средним и высоким уровнем восприятия угрозы. Новым результатом стало выявление феномена «тревожной надежды» — сочетания высокой тревоги и высокой надежды — в группе с высоким уровнем восприятия угрозы. Качественный анализ показал, что эмоции преимущественно направлены на жертв (эмпатия) и на себя/близких (персонализация). Выводы. Террористическая угроза вызывает сложный эмоциональный ландшафт, в центре которого находятся эмпатическая забота о других и личная уязвимость. Идентификация «тревожной надежды» как ключевой характеристики высокого уровня восприятия угрозы предлагает новую концептуальную рамку для понимания адаптации к хроническим, медиатизированным угрозам. Полученные результаты значимы для оценки рисков психического здоровья и формирования устойчивости у населения, подверженного психологическому воздействию терроризма.

Ключевые слова: невидимая угроза, теракт, переживание, эмоции, косвенные свидетели

Introduction

The psychological experience of “invisible threats”—such as radiation hazards, viral outbreaks, or the threat of terrorism for indirect witnesses—represents a significant area of scientific inquiry due to its profound impact on the mental health of vulnerable populations. These situations are characterized by the absence of a direct sensory image of the danger, poor predictability, sudden onset, and reliance on often contradictory information from various media sources. Such conditions (e.g., radiation danger, viral threats, indirect exposure to terrorism) can be classified as traumatic stressors, as individuals lack pre-existing personal knowledge or behavioral scripts for coping with them. The consequences of exposure to these situations range from acute informational and psychological stress immediately following threat-related information to prolonged maladaptive reactions and socio-psychological disorders.

Previous work has examined the psychological features of coping with the COVID-19 viral threat (Bykhovets, 2021) and the threat of radiation exposure (Bykhovets, 2025). The present empirical study, conducted in 2025-2026, shifts focus to the emotional spectrum associated with the threat of terrorism among a sample of young adults with no direct personal experience of terrorist attacks.

In the context of global digitalization, the phenomenon of terrorism has undergone a significant transformation, evolving into a form of permanent, omnipresent threat. Modern mass communication, while serving to inform the public, simultaneously acts as a conduit for traumatic experience, creating an effect of “virtual proximity” to the events. This gives rise to a unique socio-psychological paradox: individuals geographically distant from the epicenter of an attack may experience the threat more acutely than those living in closer proximity (Bykhovets, 2008).

While existing research has identified fear and horror as primary emotional responses to terrorist threat (Bykhovets, 2008), and studies on Israeli citizens have documented a broader range including worry, empathy, and alienation (Cohen-Louck & Saka, 2016), the full spectrum of emotional experience remains underexplored. Furthermore, the intensity of these reactions in indirect witnesses is known to vary based on factors such as media consumption patterns (Holman et al., 2014), prior traumatic experience (Bykhovets, 2008), gender (Bykhovets & Kazymova, 2024), and age or individual psychological traits (Pavlenko & Kirsanova, 2020). However, these studies often focus on a limited set of negative emotions, leaving a gap in our understanding of the full qualitative and quantitative range of emotional responses—including potentially adaptive or positive emotions—that characterize the experience of a chronic, invisible threat like terrorism.

Contemporary emotion research is highly interdisciplinary, spanning neuroscience, physiology, and mathematical modeling. Recent studies have explored the bodily markers of basic emotions (Shelepenkov et al., 2025), the neural mechanisms of positive social emotion upregulation (Bezmaternykh et al., 2025), age-related changes in emotional frequency and intensity (Growney et al., 2025), and even Markov models of emotional dynamics (Vitanza et al., 2025). Yet, the specific application of such comprehensive emotional frameworks to understanding the socio-political phenomenon of terrorism is lacking. A detailed mapping of the emotional landscape associated with terrorist threat is crucial, as it can provide deeper insight into how this threat is cognitively represented and can help predict the behavioral patterns it engenders.

Therefore, the present study aims to address this gap by systematically investigating the full spectrum of emotional reactions to terrorist threat among indirect witnesses. The primary objective is to identify and analyze the intensity and frequency of a wide range of emotions, moving beyond traditionally studied negative affects to include positive and adaptive states, and to explore how these emotions are differentiated by gender and by the overall level of perceived terrorist threat.

Method

2.1 Participants

The data presented in this article are part of a larger comprehensive study on the experience of terrorist threat. The sample consisted of 113 participants aged 18 to 40 years (M = 23.73 years, SD = 5.21), comprising 80 women (M = 22.76 years) and 33 men (M = 28.33 years). The geographical distribution of respondents covered various regions of Russia, including Moscow, Moscow Region, Ryazan Region, Altai Territory, Sakhalin Region.

2.2. Procedure

Empirical data were collected through both in-person and online formats between February 2025 and February 2026. Prior to participation, each respondent provided written informed consent.

2.3. Measures

Questionnaire on the Experience of Terrorist Threat (QETT)

This study utilized an updated version of the QETT, originally developed and tested at the Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, in the late 2000s (Bykhovets, Tarabrina, 2010). The current version is a 25-item questionnaire in which respondents rate their agreement with statements on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The construct of experiencing a terrorist threat is represented by several components: Trust in Government Initiatives, Psychological Preparedness for Terrorist Acts, Interest in Information about Terrorist Acts, Assessment of Socio-Economic Consequences, Changes in Routine Behaviors, and Changes in Social Interaction due to Terrorist Threat. These components were derived from prior theoretical and empirical work and are considered significant aspects of the experience of terrorist threat. Psychometric validation of the updated QETT is ongoing; a preliminary check of reliability showed a satisfactory level of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.696).

Author-Designed Emotion Assessment Form

To assess emotional reactions specifically related to the terrorist threat, an author-designed form was used. Respondents were presented with a list of 49 emotion descriptors. For each emotion, they were asked to rate: (a) its intensity on a 5-point scale (0 = not at all to 4 = extremely), and (b) its frequency on a 5-point scale (0 = never to 4 = very often). Additionally, for each emotion, respondents were asked an open-ended question to specify the target or cause of that feeling: “because of whom or what do you experience this emotion when thinking about the terrorist threat?”

• Data Analysis

Statistical data processing was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 23). Analyses included descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) to summarize the intensity and frequency of emotions. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for pairwise comparisons between independent groups (e.g., men vs. women; high vs. low threat perception groups). Fisher’s F-test was employed to compare variances between two samples. To categorize the qualitative responses regarding the objects of emotions, we used a large language model, DeepSeek-V3.1-Terminus, as a tool to assist in the initial thematic coding. The resulting categories were subsequently reviewed and refined by the research team to ensure accuracy and theoretical relevance.

Results

3.1. Descriptive Statistics: Emotion Intensity and Frequency

For each of the 49 emotions and emotional states related to the terrorist threat, mean intensity and frequency scores were calculated. Table 1 presents the emotions sorted by their mean intensity scores, and Table 2 presents them sorted by mean frequency scores.

Table 1. Mean Intensity of Emotions Related to Thinking about the Terrorist Threat (N = 113)

Note. M = mean. Emotions are presented in descending order of mean intensity.

Table 2. Mean Frequency of Emotions Related to Thinking about the Terrorist Threat (N = 113)

Note: M = mean. Emotions are presented in descending order of mean frequency

To facilitate interpretation, the list of 49 emotions was divided into three groups based on their mean intensity scores: the upper quartile (the 12 highest-ranking emotions), the lower quartile (the 12 lowest-ranking emotions), and the middle range (the remaining 25 emotions).

The upper quartile of emotional intensity consisted of: sympathy, anxiety, compassion, sadness, pity, excitement/worry, grief, contempt, fear, despair, hope, and horror.

These most intensely experienced emotions can be conceptually grouped. The first group comprises empathy-related emotions focused on others: sympathy, compassion, pity, sadness, and grief. This suggests that when contemplating the possibility of a terrorist threat, moral emotions of empathy and compassion for the victims are paramount. The second group comprises emotions related to the potential threat to one’s own life: anxiety, excitement/worry, fear, horror, and despair (the latter as a reaction to the realization that the threat is unpredictable). The emotion of contempt forms a separate category, representing a negative social evaluation of the actions of others. Finally, hope represents a positive, future-oriented attitude, often emerging as an antipode to danger and despair, and may function as a psychological resource for coping with adversity. It is noteworthy that all emotions in the upper quartile appear to serve adaptive functions—threat protection, strengthening social bonds (through compassion and sympathy), and coping with grief for the victims of terrorism. These emotions should be viewed not as pathological states but as natural responses to a situation that represents a significant and realistic danger in contemporary society.

The middle quartile of emotional intensity included: fright, dejection, hatred, helplessness, disappointment, interest, anger, perplexity, surprise, panic, disgust, faith, discouragement, liking, pride, calmness, patriotism, suffering, love, melancholy, resentment, forgiveness, envy, doubt, and resignation.

These emotions can be further subdivided. One subgroup—suffering, surprise, and perplexity—appears to reflect cognitive dissonance arising from the threat. These emotions capture the discrepancy between basic beliefs in a just and benevolent world and the reality of extreme, aggressive behavior towards innocent people. Surprise reflects the shocking fact of the attacks themselves, while perplexity stems from the struggle to comprehend the causes (“How can this happen in modern society?”). Suffering arises from the awareness of the tragic consequences and the likelihood of future attacks. A second subgroup—anger, fright, helplessness, panic, discouragement, dejection, melancholy, and resentment—comprises emotions related to the potential threat to one’s own life. The triad of hatred, disappointment, and resentment can be understood as defensive emotional states arising from negative attitudes toward the perpetrators of terrorism. Their primary function may be to psychologically distance oneself from the reality of the threat in order to preserve one’s values and sense of psychological safety. These states carry a strong emotional charge, reflecting a high level of negative sentiment towards terrorists.

The lower quartile of emotional intensity consisted of emotions that were experienced least intensely: gloating, delight, confidence, indifference, admiration, excitement/arousal, guilt, joy, shame, boredom, pleasure, and embarrassment. This suggests that the terrorist threat rarely evokes feelings of guilt, shame, confidence, or positively valenced emotions such as joy, delight, or pleasure.

As shown in Table 2, the most frequently experienced emotions in relation to the terrorist threat were empathy, anxiety, hope, pity, compassion, grief, despair, sadness, contempt, fright, interest, and hatred. The mean frequency scores for these emotions ranged from 1.426 to 2.408, corresponding to the scale anchors “rarely” and “a significant part of the time”.

A comparison of the upper quartiles for intensity and frequency reveals substantial overlap, with the notable exception of fear, horror, and excitement/worry. These three emotions were experienced with high intensity but relatively low frequency, suggesting they are acute but not pervasive responses to the threat.

3.2 Gender Differences

Mann-Whitney U tests revealed significant gender differences in the intensity of several emotions (see Table 3). Men reported significantly higher intensity than women for 15 emotions: shame, disappointment, grief, contempt, gloating, hope, pride, pleasure, calmness, faith, confidence, interest, surprise, delight, and guilt. In contrast, women reported significantly higher intensity than men for only one emotion, namely, helplessness.

Table 3. Gender Differences in Emotion Intensity (Mann-Whitney U Test)

3.3. Emotional Profiles by Level of Perceived Terrorist Threat

The sample was divided into three subgroups based on their total QETT score, using the mean (M = 48.124) and standard deviation (SD = 8.393) as cut-off points:

1. Low Threat Perception: QETT scores from 24 to 42 (N = 21; M = 35.24)
2. Moderate Threat Perception: QETT scores from 43 to 50 (N = 51; M = 46.49)
3. High Threat Perception: QETT scores of 51 or higher (N = 41; M = 56.76)

Pairwise comparisons using the Mann-Whitney U test revealed distinct emotional profiles associated with each level of threat perception (see Table 4).

Table 4. Significant Differences in Emotion Intensity Between Threat Perception Groups (Mann-Whitney U Test)

These findings indicate that lower levels of perceived terrorist threat are associated with higher intensity of indifference and resignation. To explore this further, we examined the patterns of indifference and resignation within the low threat perception group (N = 21). Using the group means for resignation (M = 1.81) and indifference (M = 1.727) as cut-offs, four subgroups were identified:

1. High Resignation & High Indifference: N = 5
2. Low Resignation & Low Indifference: N = 5
3. Low Resignation & High Indifference: N = 4
4. High Resignation & Low Indifference: N = 7

We propose that indifference and resignation, while both suggesting an absence of active resistance to the threat, may reflect different psychological processes. Indifference may be characterized by detachment and alienation as a conscious strategy to disengage from the issue, potentially manifesting behaviorally as passivity and inertia. Resignation, in contrast, may involve a deeper acknowledgment and acceptance of the limited controllability of this aspect of modern life, potentially leading to a conscious restructuring of one’s life and values. Based on this interpretation, two distinct profiles within the low threat perception group can be tentatively identified: individuals whose low threat perception stems from passive disengagement (Subgroup 3), and those whose low threat perception results from an active acceptance of global complexities and limited personal control (Subgroup 4). The patterns observed in Subgroups 1 and 2 require further investigation and underscore the diversity of psychological adaptation to the terrorist threat.

3.4. The Interplay of Anxiety and Hope

The between-group comparisons also suggested that anxiety, contempt, and hope may be key markers of high threat perception. Notably, anxiety and hope both share a future-oriented focus—one reflecting negative anticipation of uncertainty, the other reflecting belief in a positive outcome. To investigate this relationship, we combined the moderate and high threat perception groups (N = 92) and divided them into four subgroups based on their levels of anxiety and hope (using the combined group means: anxiety M = 3.253, hope M = 2.295):

1. High Anxiety & High Hope: N = 53
2. Low Anxiety & Low Hope: N = 12
3. Low Anxiety & High Hope: N = 20
4. High Anxiety & Low Hope: N = 7

We then compared the proportion of individuals with high versus low hope between the high-anxiety and low-anxiety subgroups (see Table 5).

Fisher’s exact test confirmed that the proportion of individuals with high hope was significantly larger in the high-anxiety subgroup than in the low-anxiety subgroup (φ = 2.858, p < .01). This suggests that hope contributes significantly to the experience of anxiety related to the terrorist threat. Individuals with high threat perception may be characterized by a state of “anxious hope,” in which they continue to plan for the future while remaining acutely aware of the world’s unpredictability. For these individuals, anxiety and hope may exist in a dynamic equilibrium that facilitates adaptive behavior in the face of a persistent threat.

3.5. Qualitative Analysis: The Objects of Emotions

The next stage of data analysis involved a content analysis of participants’ responses regarding the objects of their emotions. On the emotion assessment form, respondents were asked not only to rate the intensity and frequency of each feeling but also to specify the target or cause of that emotion (“because of whom or what do you experience this emotion when thinking about the terrorist threat?”). The results presented below focus on the twelve most intensely experienced emotions: anxiety, sadness, excitement/worry, pity, compassion, sympathy, grief, contempt, fear, horror, despair, and hope. A total of 386 distinct objects were identified for these emotions.

The objects associated with each emotion were categorized into five overarching thematic clusters (see Table 6 for a summary). Below, we present the detailed analysis for each of the twelve emotions.

Empathy was evoked primarily by the victims themselves (n = 58), followed by information about the victims (n = 4), and rescue workers (n = 2).

Anxiety arose from concern for oneself and loved ones (n = 30); feelings of powerlessness, lack of control, and the impossibility of protection (n = 8); specific triggers such as shopping malls or news reports (n = 4); thoughts about both victims and terrorists (n = 4); and, in some cases, denial as an attempt to reduce anxiety by minimizing the threat (e.g., “I feel like it won’t affect me”) (n = 2).

Hope was expressed as a wish that a terrorist attack would not happen again, that victims would receive help, and that the situation would be resolved (n = 18). Respondents also placed hope in specific counter-terrorism organizations, including security services, diplomacy, education, sanctions, and protective technologies (n = 17). Others expressed hope that terrorists would be neutralized by security forces (n = 13). One respondent indicated that the topic of terrorist attacks did not evoke strong emotions (n = 1).

Compassion was directed toward the victims of the tragedy (n = 29); abstract values and concepts such as home, nature, gender-related qualities (e.g., “feminine wisdom”), and professional spheres (n = 13); and family and children (n = 4).

Sadness was linked to specific groups of people, including victims, the injured, children, the elderly, medical professionals, and families (n = 23); to values such as nature, home, homeland, and art (n = 10); and to perceptions of the world order, including injustice, the recurrence of evil, terrorism as a phenomenon, and one’s own powerlessness (n = 14).

Pity was evoked by victims, particularly children, the elderly, pregnant women, women, tourists, and even animals (n = 40). It was also associated with descriptions of intense emotional states such as tears, hopelessness, futility, despair, and helplessness (n = 10).

Excitement/Worry was related to several themes: concern for oneself (one’s own life and safety) (n = 16); concern for loved ones, including family, daughters, relatives, the fear of losing them, and the need to protect them (n = 23); feelings of personal inadequacy, such as the fear of not coping, not being able to help, or acting incorrectly (n = 3); specific triggers, including news, uncertainty, shelling, and suspicious people (n = 10); and thoughts about the victims (n = 2).

Grief was experienced in connection with the victims and their loved ones (n = 32); with moral condemnation of the terrorists and their actions (n = 13); with reflection on the imperfections of the world and social institutions (n = 2); and with feelings of fatalism (n = 1).

Contempt arose in relation to loved ones for whom respondents were concerned or about whom they were thinking in the context of terrorist attacks (n = 16), and in relation to the organizers, ideologues, and perpetrators of the attacks (n = 31).

Fear was felt for oneself and loved ones (n = 28); in response to the phenomenon of female terrorists (n = 10); as a reaction to the ideology
and perceived absurdity of terror (n = 5); and due to the uncertainty of the situation (n = 6).

Despair was attributed to feelings of powerlessness, the impossibility of control, and an inability to influence the situation (n = 19); to intense emotional states such as grief and hopelessness (n = 15); to the ideologues and organizers of terror (n = 13); to the victims and their loved ones (n = 5); and to informational triggers such as news reports (n = 2).

Horror was evoked by the victims and the injured (n = 12); by the possibility that oneself or family members could become victims of an attack (n = 9); by the terrorists and their cruelty (n = 8); by media and visual content (n = 9); by reflections on the nature of evil and the imperfection of the world (n = 4); and, in one case, by a form of denial (thinking not about the attacks as terrible events, but only about the actions of the victims) (n = 1).

When all 386 objects were considered together, they coalesced into five overarching thematic clusters (see Table 6). As shown in Table 6, the most frequently mentioned categories of emotion objects were “Empathy and Compassion for Victims” and “Fear and Anxiety for Self and Loved Ones”. This underscores both the empathic response to the suffering of others and the high level of personal involvement with the threat. Feelings of powerlessness, condemnation of terrorists, and detachment were mentioned considerably less often.

In summary, the analysis of emotion objects reveals that the terrorist threat evokes a complex emotional landscape centered on empathic concern for victims and personal vulnerability, rather than on more distanced or defensive reactions.

Table 6. Thematic Clusters of Emotion Objects

Discussion

The primary aim of this study was to systematically map the spectrum of emotional reactions to the terrorist threat among young adults who are indirect witnesses with no direct personal experience of such events. The findings reveal a rich and nuanced emotional landscape, with the most intense reactions centering on empathy for victims (sympathy, compassion, pity, sadness, grief), personal threat responses (fear, anxiety, horror), and the socially directed emotion of contempt, alongside the future-oriented state of hope. However, the most striking and novel finding to emerge from this investigation is the identification of “anxious hope” as a characteristic emotional profile for individuals with a high level of perceived terrorist threat. This discovery forms the central contribution of the present study and warrants detailed discussion.

The central finding is anxious hope as an adaptive response. The co-occurrence of high anxiety and high hope in a significant portion of our sample (53 out of 92 participants with moderate-to-high threat perception) points to a complex, dialectical emotional state. Rather than being mutually exclusive, anxiety and hope appear to coexist in a dynamic equilibrium. We propose that “anxious hope” represents an adaptive psychological mechanism for navigating the inherent uncertainty of a persistent, media-mediated threat. It is the feeling of continuing to plan for a future—to hope for safety, justice, and resolution—while simultaneously carrying the acute awareness that this future is fundamentally unpredictable and may bring loss. This finding significantly extends prior research that has primarily focused on negative emotions like fear, anger, and grief (Nurkova et al., 2003; Voronova et al., 2024) by demonstrating that hope is not merely the absence of despair, but an active and integral component of the psychological response to chronic threat. The balance between anxiety and hope is likely modulated by a constellation of factors, including personal proximity to past events, trust in social institutions, engagement with threat-related information, and the availability of social support.

The pronounced gender differences observed in this study provide further insight into the psychological processes underlying threat perception. The finding that men reported significantly higher intensity for 15 emotions, while women only exceeded men in helplessness, might initially seem counterintuitive. However, interpreted through the lens of prior work (Kazymova, 2018), this pattern suggests qualitatively different experiences of the threat. For men, the terrorist threat may be construed as a challenge to the established order and a direct affront to the ego, triggering a broad cascade of self-relevant emotions—from shame at the failure to prevent attacks, to pride in resilience, and even interest in the mechanics of the threat. For women, the threat appears to be experienced more as a potential tragedy that could sever the network of personal attachments. Their emotional focus narrows to the safety of loved ones, rendering them more vulnerable to feelings of helplessness. Thus, the richer emotional palette observed in men does not indicate greater sensitivity, but rather a greater ego-involvement and a focus on personal safety, whereas women’s response is characterized by other-oriented concern and its attendant feeling of powerlessness. These divergent pathways both converge on the experience of “anxious hope,” but arrive there via different psychological routes.

The identification of distinct profiles within the low threat perception group further underscores the complexity of psychological adaptation to terrorism. The finding that lower threat perception is associated with higher levels of indifference and resignation might be interpreted in two ways. For some individuals (those with high indifference but low resignation), this may represent a form of passive disengagement—a conscious or unconscious strategy to detach from a disturbing reality, manifesting as inertia and avoidance. For others (those with high resignation but low indifference), it may reflect a more active, philosophical acceptance of the limits of personal control over global events—a restructuring of one’s worldview to accommodate the existence of terrorism as a tragic but unchangeable feature of modern life. This distinction is crucial, as it suggests that a low score on a measure of threat perception can arise from qualitatively different psychological states, with potentially different implications for mental health and behavior. The former may indicate a defensive denial that could be vulnerable to collapse under acute stress, while the latter may represent a resilient form of adaptation. This finding aligns with broader theoretical perspectives on meaning-making and coping, which distinguish between disengagement and acceptance as distinct strategies for dealing with uncontrollable stressors.

The qualitative analysis of emotion objects provides a powerful validation of the quantitative findings. The predominance of the “Empathy and Compassion for Victims” and “Fear and Anxiety for Self and Loved Ones” clusters reinforces the interpretation that the terrorist threat is experienced simultaneously as a communal tragedy and a personal danger. This dual focus—on the suffering of others and on one’s own vulnerability—is the very foundation upon which the state of “anxious hope” is built. One hopes for the victims and for the safety of one’s loved ones, while being anxious about the same. The less frequent mention of themes like powerlessness, condemnation of terrorists, and detachment suggests that, for most of our respondents, the threat is not primarily experienced as an abstract political issue or a distant event, but as a deeply personal and empathic concern. This pattern resonates with findings from research on stress reactions to school terror alerts (Vasileva, 2022), which also identified a strong focus on the safety of children and the immediate social environment.

Limitations and Future Directions

Several limitations of this study should be acknowledged. First, the sample, while geographically diverse, is relatively small and predominantly female, which may limit the generalizability of the findings, particularly the gender differences. Second, the cross-sectional design precludes any conclusions about the causal relationships between threat perception, emotional profiles, and long-term mental health outcomes. Longitudinal research is needed to track how the “anxious hope” dynamic evolves over time and in response to actual threat events. Third, the use of a novel, author-designed emotion list, while allowing for a comprehensive assessment, would benefit from further validation in independent samples. Finally, the use of a large language model to assist in qualitative coding, while innovative, requires ongoing critical evaluation to ensure the trustworthiness of the thematic categories. Future research should aim to replicate these findings in larger, more representative samples and to explore the behavioral and physiological correlates of the “anxious hope” profile.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that indirect witnesses of terrorism experience a complex spectrum of emotions, the most intense of which are empathic concern for victims and fear for oneself and loved ones. The central contribution of this work is the identification of “anxious hope” as a defining emotional state for individuals with high levels of perceived terrorist threat. This dynamic interplay between a future-oriented positive emotion (hope) and a threat-based negative emotion (anxiety) appears to be an adaptive response to the chronic, media-mediated uncertainty of modern terrorism. Gender differences in emotional intensity reflect divergent pathways to this state, rooted in ego-involvement versus other-oriented concern. Furthermore, low levels of perceived threat can stem from qualitatively different processes—either passive disengagement or active acceptance—highlighting the complexity of psychological adaptation. These findings underscore the importance of studying the experience of intangible threats for assessing mental health risks and identifying factors that promote psychological resilience in the face of enduring terrorist danger. The phenomenon of “anxious hope” offers a valuable new lens for understanding how individuals cope with the unpredictable threats of the contemporary world.

Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflicts of interest. The author is solely responsible for submitting the final version of the manuscript for publication.

Ethics Statement: This research adhered to the highest ethical standards of scholarly conduct. All procedures were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations to ensure the integrity of the research process and the protection of participants’ rights.

Acknowledgements: The author thanks R.N. Gatyzhskaya for her help in collecting data for the study.

Funding: The study was carried out in accordance with the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Project No. 0138-2025-0009, “Systemic Development of the Subject in Normal, Subextreme, and Extreme Conditions of Life Activity”.

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