Antecedents to risk and threat in HCI: Controlling for the unknown

While extant HCI literature has moved beyond the asset and process view of risk by acknowledging risk to users, the literature has yet to examine the antecedents of perceived risk with respect to the interaction itself. In order to inform HCI risk theory and theorizing, our exploratory study seeks to begin answering this question by moving beyond appropriated social and psychology theories by 'backing into' risk constructs rather than directly asking about them. Our research in progress reveals that participants perceive one of three constructs as being more or less threatening (and therefore the resulting interaction as risky) depending on the degree to which they feel they can control them. We conclude that HCI risk constructs and measurements are better informed by taking into consideration views of the self and others for each individual, along with views of the IS/IT, as this stands to better inform the validity of concomitant risk constructs.