ABSTRACT
Brian Michael Jenkins once famously said, “Terrorists want a lot of people watching, not a lot of people dead.” This chapter examines how terrorists maximize fear to achieve their strategic objectives, and how terrorism risk is perceived by considering the heuristics of fear. We consider how the fear of terrorism influences individual behaviors, such as decisions regarding vacation travel destinations and office space rental, as well as group behaviors, such as national counterterrorism policies and governmental spending priorities. Finally, we present evidence to suggest that Jenkins' assertion could be modified to read “Terrorists want a lot of people afraid—not a lot of people dead.”
