The issue of psychological security within an increasingly unstable, interconnected world has become a defining challenge of modern individual and cultural life. The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 and the global financial crisis that unfolded in 2008 have intensified a sense of global and personal insecurity. This concern with psychological insecurity is reflected in contemporary culture, politics, the business world, consumer behavior, the arts, and other areas.Within this context, the psychological sciences have kept pace, vigorously investigating these issues. This handbook features the latest theory and research examining cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to security threats. It expands the conceptual focus from specific security threats to the broader range of antecedents, processes, and consequences of psychological security/insecurity.The chapters are organized into four content areas: personal security in individual contexts, personal security in interpersonal contexts, personal security with cultural and health contexts, and interdisciplinary analyses of personal security. They represent a new and vibrant area of research unified by the common goal of understanding the factors that shape a sense of personal security. Together, these provocative chapters provide specific starting points that will shape future theory, policy, and practice on this dominant social issue of the 21st Century and, more importantly, offer opportunities to connect social and personality psychology to its scientific kin.

Introduction and Overview. Part 1. Personal Security in Individual Contexts. Security and Uncertainty in Contemporary Delayed-Return Cultures: Coping with the Blockage of Personal Goals, K. van den Bos, I. McGregor, L. Martin. Being Threatened and Being a Threat Can Increase Reliance On Thoughts: A Self-Validation Approach, P. Briñol, K. G. DeMarree, R. E. Petty. Psychological Insecurity and Leadership Styles, C. Schoel, D. Stahlberg, C. Sedikides. The Psychology of Defensiveness: An Integrative Security System Model of Attachment, Self-esteem, and Worldviews, J. Hart. Part I Commentary, C. Holbrook, D. Fessler. Part 2. Personal Security in Interpersonal Contexts. Narcissism and Protection Against Social Threat, S.D. Freis, A.A. Brown, R.M. Arkin. Regulating Relationship Security of Chronically Insecure Partners, E. Lemay. An Attachment Perspective on Personal Security, M. Milkulincer, P.R. Shaver. Attachment Security and Prosociality: Dynamics, Underlying Mechanisms, and Implications, O. Gillath, G. Karantzas. A Goal Circumplex Model of Security Strivings in Social and Cultural Context, K. Tomczyk, B. Yu, X. Zhou. Ostracism Threatens Personal Security: A Temporal Need Threat Framework, E. D. Wesselmann, A. Hales, D. Ren, K. D. Williams. Part II Commentary, M. Clark, K. Von Culin, J. Hirsch. Part 3. Personal Security in Cultural and Health Contexts. Security Seeking in a Regulatory Focus Whodunit: The Case of the Relative Orientation in Behavioral Economics, G. Leonardelli, V. Bohns, J. Gu. Achieving Existential Security through Symbolically Fusing Secular and Religious Sources of Control and Order, A. Kay, S. Shepherd, R. Eibach. Responding to Psychological Threats with Deliberate Ignorance: Causes and Remedies, J. Shepperd, J. Howell. Uncertainty in Healthcare: A Multi-Level Approach, S. Andrews, K. Sweeny. Part III Commentary, A.J. Rothman, A. K. Farrell, L. Auster-Gussman. Part 4. Interdisciplinary Analyses of Personal Security. "Fear Appeals" and Security in American Foreign Relations, C. Fettweis. Terrorism, Personal Security, and Responsible Policy Making, J. Mueller, M.G. Stewart. Secure in Their Beliefs: Personal Security, the Quest for Personal Significance, and the Psychology of Extremism, A. Kruglanski, N. Schori-Eyal. Ecology and Evolution of Personal Security: Adaptive Interdependence of the Individual and the Collective, R. Sagarin. Part IV Commentary, T. Kolditz, J. Lovelace.