Abstract Pepper spray is widely used in the US, and is marketed as an effective self-defense device. While pepper spray can be useful in deterring an attacker, many pepper spray owners do not have any experience using it. There is a dearth of published studies that focus on civilian pepper-spray use, not to mention first time pepper-spray users. A study to analyze pepper-spray designs with first-time users, to see how the design, specifically the safety mechanism, affects response time and overall performance would be helpful. The study was conducted in 2 parts – a survey to understand user perception, and a lab experiment using a 2 × 2 randomized block design with two designs of pepper sprays (side-slide safety and flip-top safety) and the two starting locations for the pepper spray (purse or pocket) as the manipulated factors. Results revealed a significant difference in response times between the flip-top pepper-spray and the side-slide pepper-spray. There was also a significant difference in response times between using the index or thumb as the trigger finger but no significant difference in response times when the pepper-spray for location (purse or pocket). Overall, participants rated the side-slide device as the most effective self-defense device. Relevance to industry Because there is no other research in the area of first-time pepper-spray users, let alone civilian pepper-spray users, much can be learned about how well people use these devices in a real-world situation, and when there is a highly stressful situation how well does pepper-spray allow an individual to protect him or herself. This study starts the discussion on some of these topics.

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用于自卫的民用胡椒喷雾：了解用户感知和设计对用户性能的影响

摘要 胡椒喷雾在美国被广泛使用，并作为一种有效的自卫装置进行销售。虽然胡椒喷雾可用于威慑攻击者，但许多胡椒喷雾所有者没有任何使用经验。很少有已发表的研究关注民用胡椒喷雾的使用，更不用说第一次使用胡椒喷雾的人了。一项针对初次使用者分析胡椒喷雾设计的研究，以了解该设计（特别是安全机制）如何影响响​​应时间和整体性能将有所帮助。该研究分两部分进行 - 一项了解用户感知的调查，以及一项使用 2 × 2 随机块设计的实验室实验，其中包含两种胡椒喷雾设计（侧滑安全和翻盖安全）和两个起始位置胡椒喷雾（钱包或口袋）作为操纵因素。结果显示，翻盖式胡椒喷雾和侧滑式胡椒喷雾在响应时间上存在显着差异。使用食指或拇指作为触发手指之间的响应时间也存在显着差异，但当胡椒喷雾定位（钱包或口袋）时，响应时间没有显着差异。总体而言，参与者将侧滑装置评为最有效的自卫装置。与行业的相关性 因为在首次使用胡椒喷雾的用户领域没有其他研究，更不用说民用胡椒喷雾用户了，所以可以了解人们在现实世界中如何使用这些设备，以及何时使用这些设备。是一种压力很大的情况，胡椒喷雾如何让个人保护他或她自己。本研究开始讨论其中一些主题。