The roles of self-control, need for cognition, impulsivity and viewing time in deception detection using a realistic e-mail phishing task

Phishing attacks manipulate people into giving away personal information, which can lead to detrimental consequences for individuals and organizations. This study aimed to understand how viewing time and traits relating to cognition influenced participant’s ability to detect phishing e-mails. One hundred and twenty-two undergraduate students participated in an online survey which collected measures of impulsivity, need for cognition, self-control, time spent viewing e-mails and correct detection of phishing. There were no significant correlations between correct phishing detection and traits relating to cognition. However, viewing time was a significant factor where the more time individuals spent viewing e-mails the greater their accuracy in both perception of phishing e-mails and intention to correctly respond to phishing e-mails. The findings suggest that individual psychological differences have little influence on deception detection, supporting some of the previous research on the lack of effects relating to personality differences. In practical terms, individuals should be advised to spend more time viewing e-mails than they usually would, in order to increase their ability to detect phishing e-mails.