Fear of crime, personality and trait emotions: An empirical study

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2018

Authors

Guedes, Inês Sousa (Author) FDUP; Almeida Domingos, SPA (Author) Other; Cardoso, Carla (Author) FDUP

Journal

Title: European Journal of Criminology

Vol. 15

Pages: 658-679

ISSN: 1477-3708

Publisher: SAGE

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 1 Citation

Scopus - 7 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00P-WRE

DOI: 10.1177/1477370817749500

Abstract (EN): In recent years, scientific research has neglected the importance of personality and trait emotions in explaining fear of crime. Through a survey administered to 205 individuals, this study explored the relationship between individual variables and abstract fear of crime, perception of victimization risk (cognitive dimension), and behavioral expressions. A positive correlation between neuroticism (a personality dimension) and the abstract fear of crime was observed but not with the cognitive and behavioral dimensions. It was also found that trait fear emotion correlated only with the abstract fear of crime. Contrary to what was hypothesized, social desirability was positively correlated with abstract fear of crime, cognitive dimensions and behavioral dimensions in both men and women. Lastly, regression models revealed that distinct variables explaining each of the fear of crime dimensions exist. The implications of the findings are discussed herein.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 22