  In human factor fields such as human-computer interaction (HCI) and
psychology, researchers have been concerned that participants mostly come from
WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) countries. This
WEIRD skew may hinder understanding of diverse populations and their cultural
differences. The usable privacy and security (UPS) field has inherited many
research methodologies from research on human factor fields. We conducted a
literature review to understand the extent to which participant samples in UPS
papers were from WEIRD countries and the characteristics of the methodologies
and research topics in each user study recruiting Western or non-Western
participants. We found that the skew toward WEIRD countries in UPS is greater
than that in HCI. Geographic and linguistic barriers in the study methods and
recruitment methods may cause researchers to conduct user studies locally. In
addition, many papers did not report participant demographics, which could
hinder the replication of the reported studies, leading to low reproducibility.
To improve geographic diversity, we provide the suggestions including
facilitate replication studies, address geographic and linguistic issues of
study/recruitment methods, and facilitate research on the topics for non-WEIRD
populations.
