This pre-test, post- test experiment examined the effects of mortality salience, frames of the military and military personnel, and regulatory focus on viewer attitudes toward the military, support for the military, and their perceptions of military personnel's criminal behavior. Participants viewed a short video clip from an episode of NCIS which contained either a sympathetic or non-sympathetic frame of the military and, in the treatment condition, a mortality salience reminder. Frame (sympathetic or non-sympathetic) had a significant effect on participant attitudes toward the military in the control condition when there was no mortality salience reminder present in the video clip. However, when participants' mortality was made salient, attitudes and support for the military did not change. Theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Master of Arts

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / Cyberespionage is a prolific threat that undermines the power projection capacity of the United States through reduced economic prowess and a narrowing of the technical advantage employed by the American military. International attempts to limit hostile cyber activity through the development of institutions, normative patterns of behavior, or assimilation of existing laws do not provide the American national security decision maker with a timely or effective solution to address these threats. Unfortunately, the stove-piped, redundant and inefficient nature of the U.S. counterintelligence community does not deliver a viable alternative to mitigating cyberespionage in an effective manner. Instituting a domestic and international micro-restructuring approach within the Department of Defense (DoD) addresses the need for increased effectiveness within an environment of fiscal responsibility. Domestic restructuring places emphasis on developing a forcing mechanism that compels the DoD counterintelligence services to develop joint approaches for combating cyberespionage by directly addressing the needs of the Combatant Commands. International restructuring places an emphasis on expanding cybersecurity cooperation to like-minded nations and specifically explores the opportunity and challenges for increased cyber cooperation with Taiwan. This approach recognizes that Taiwan and the United States are both negatively affected from hostile cyber activity derived from within the People’s Republic of China.