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The authors conducted an experiment to examine the effect of specific (fear and anger) and global emotional states on perceptions of threat posed by either George W. Bush or Osama Bin Laden. The findings supported a mediator model in which negative emotion towards the threat target mediated the effect of global negative emotion on perceived threat. The authors discuss implications of the findings for theories that postulate an effect of emotion on risk perceptions and for understanding threat perception in the terrorism context.