Is staying out of bomb-shelters a human-automation interaction issue?

“Iron-Dome” is an anti-rocket air defense system placed around major urban areas of Israel. It was created to provide citizens with greater deal of protection against hostile rocket attacks. A study was conducted to examine whether civilians' experience with the “Iron-Dome” system affects people's perceived reliability of it, their trust in it, and their complacency to hostile rocket alerts. During the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict (operation “Protective Edge”), an online questionnaire was used to measure civilian respondents' perceptions and actions. Results indicated that people living in geographical areas who had more experience with rocket attacks and thereby with the “Iron-Dome” system, perceived it as less reliable, had lower trust in it, and were less complacent. These results show that people's interaction with the “Iron-Dome” corresponds to the common prediction of theoretical models of human-automation interaction. This understanding may assist in planning of implementation programs and guidance of civilians for other mass protection systems in the future.