Tel Aviv U study seeks to measure true costs of terror

Just how much does terrorism cost society? Estimates of the cost of the 9/11 attacks, for example, range from about $45 billion for direct costs (the value of damaged or destroyed factories, equipment, housing and structures, merchandise, lost wages, pain and suffering) to over $100 billion when indirect costs are included (the increase in airport security, purchasing of new equipment for security, etc.).

But there are costs even beyond the “indirect” ones. What about the productivity lost as workers spend extra time at the water cooler discussing how nervous they are? The time lost to commuters who decide to take a longer but safer route? The loss of sleep and increase in anxiety, and the attendant loss in productivity?

These, too, are a “cost of terrorism,” a new study by Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Management says. The study, led by Dr. Sharon Toker of TAU, in collaboration with Dr. Gregory A. Laurence of the University of Michigan and Dr. Yitzhak Fried of Syracuse University and Texas Tech University, sought to measure those ancillary indirect costs.

A preview of the report, with specifics to be revealed later, show that terrorism costs society a lot more than had been thought until now.

In just one parameter – sleep – terror’s impact is sufficient to cause significant slowdowns in productivity. When fear of terrorism is in the air, people have a hard time sleeping, and more often than usual find themselves suffering from a full-blown state of insomnia, and in an almost constant state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion.

“Terror brings the saliency of death into our awareness,” said Dr. Toker. “One tends not to be reminded of death on a daily basis, but terrorism every day drives home the idea that one can die at any moment. With terror attacks, there is nothing to be done, and that is really frightening.”

The study was conducted in Israel, taking a group of 670 Israeli workers chosen at random beginning in 2003 – at the peak of the Second Intifada, during which 550 attempted terrorist acts led to the deaths of 880 civilians. The workers underwent routine annual checkups at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center as part of the Tel Aviv Medical Center Inflammation Survey led by Prof. Itzhak Shapira and Prof. Shlomo Berliner, each year through 2009. In addition, they filled out periodic questionnaires that assessed the incidence of insomnia, fear of terror, fear for personal safety, tension experienced in public places, level of workplace support, and signs of job burnout.

The results showed that fear of terror was almost inexorably linked to factors that significantly reduced workplace productivity.

“We found that the higher your levels of fear of terror at baseline, the higher your risk of developing insomnia — and those who were more likely to develop insomnia were also most likely to experience job burnout several years later,” said Toker. “Burnout is a direct outcome of depleted resources, so those who consistently don’t get enough sleep report job burnout. Interestingly, we found that those who reported support from colleagues — but not managers — developed significantly less insomnia and little incidence of job burnout after several years.”

Although there was little employers could do to help workers overcome their fears – and restore productivity – ensuring that the workplace environment was “conducive to a strong social support network could substantially alleviate the effects of fear of terror,” said Toker.

“Managers can promote interventions for healthy sleep habits, initiate retreats, and launch employee assistance programs, particularly in peak periods of terrorism. We believe these measures are very productive in alleviating symptoms of worker burnout.”