Empathy as a response to frustration in password choice

Abstract

Previous research often reports that password-based security is frustrating, irritating or annoying, and as a result it often leads to weak password choices. We investigated the impact of empathy as a countermeasure to the anger-related states. We designed an online study with N = 194 participants. The experimental group received an empathic message while the control group did not. Participants presented with the empathic message created significantly stronger passwords than those who did not receive the message. Our finding differs from previous research because it shows participants creating stronger passwords with an empathic response to anger arousal. This antidote to frustrated states with regards to password choice provides an initial step towards more supportive and emotionally intelligent security designs.