Author(s)

AUDREY HEFFRON CASSERLEIGH, REBECCA S. L. ROGERS

Abstract

As Millennials have begun to age out of experiencing 9/11 in the US and having tangible memories of the attack and its aftermath, a natural scepticism has grown surrounding the details of the event. The purpose of this survey was to understand perceptions of young adults (N = 297) as they comprehend or remember the events of 9/11 and details surrounding the attacks themselves. This survey seeks to understand the current perceptions of the events as they occurred by a Millennial student population. Independent variables include: (1) members of family in the military; (2) citizenship; (3) education; and (4) age at time of event. Dependent variables explore the following: perceptions of why the event occurred; who perpetrated the event; the involvement of the US Government; and truth and trust of media reporting. This is the first two years of a ten year longitudinal study. All survey respondents were between the ages of 20 and 22 at the time the survey was administered and enrolled in the college course “Introduction to Terrorism”. Preliminary results indicate that a majority of respondents have inaccurate perceptions of the event and exhibit a high distrust of the US Governments’ role in the attacks on 9/11 and how they came to be.

Keywords

Millennials, terrorism, 9/11, Government