Although advanced technologies (i.e., artificial intelligence (AI), robots) are often discussed as drivers of societal inequality, our research examines whether people living in more unequal ...societies tend to view technology as a greater threat to jobs in general. Building from research that societal inequality heightens concerns about status hierarchies and future resource attainment, we anticipated that workers in more unequal societies would tend to view AI/robots as greater threats (e.g., AI/robots as job destroyers). Utilizing the Eurobarometer 87.1 dataset, we found that country inequality, as operationalized via the Gini Index, was positively associated with perceptions that AI/robots pose threats of general job loss. These relationships occurred when controlling for people's perceptions of technological threat to their own personal job, technology skills and interests, and demographics. Moreover, these findings are robust across alternative operationalizations of inequality including the Human Inequality Index and people's subjective perceptions of current and future inequality in their country. These findings advance theory on inequality and suggest that the broader context-both objective and perceived-may play a role in how people view disruption associated with AI/robots at work.
The present research examined the relationship between political ideology and perceptions of the threat of COVID-19. Due to Republican leadership’s initial downplaying of COVID-19 and the resulting ...partisan media coverage, we predicted that conservatives would perceive it as less threatening. Two preregistered online studies supported this prediction. Conservatism was associated with perceiving less personal vulnerability to the virus and the virus’s severity as lower, and stronger endorsement of the beliefs that the media had exaggerated the virus’s impact and that the spread of the virus was a conspiracy. Conservatism also predicted less accurate discernment between real and fake COVID-19 headlines and fewer accurate responses to COVID-19 knowledge questions. Path analyses suggested that presidential approval, knowledge about COVID-19, and news discernment mediated the relationship between ideology and perceived vulnerability. These results suggest that the relationship between political ideology and threat perceptions may depend on issue framing by political leadership and media.
•We focus on the relationship between the COVID-19 threat and variety-seeking.•Increased perceived threat of COVID-19 increases the number of different options selected in multiple choices.•Increased ...perceived threat of COVID-19 increases the number of risky activities selected.•The type of decision moderates the impact of the perceived threat on variety-seeking.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced our daily and social lives as well as our consumption patterns. This paper focuses on the relationship between the COVID-19 threat and variety-seeking. Based on several theories, including reactance theory and terror management theory, we predict that the perceived threat of COVID-19 will increase the tendency to choose more and different options in multiple choice settings. Firstly, two empirical studies demonstrate that variety-seeking in food and stationery choices is enhanced as people's perceived threat from the disease increases. Study 3 further suggests the boundary conditions of the above pattern in that the type of decision (i.e., multiple option selections across different brands vs. within the same brand) will moderate the impact of the perceived threat on varietyseeking. Specifically, when the decision involved choice across different brands, participants showed higher variety-seeking under high (vs. low) perceived threat. However, the opposite pattern was true when the decision involved choice within the same brand. This research offers a deeper understanding of how variety-seeking can be changed by the perceived threat of COVID-19.
新冠肺炎疫情对我们的日常生活和社会生活以及消费模式产生了重大影响.本文主要研究新冠肺炎威胁与多样性产品之间的关系.基于一些理论, 包括抗拒理论和恐怖管理理论, 我们预测, 新冠肺炎的感知威胁将增加)消费者(在多选择环境中选择更多和不同产品的倾向.首先, 两项实证研究表明, 随着人们对疾病威胁的感知增加, 他们在选择食品和文具时寻求多样性的意愿增强.研究三进一步表明, 上述模式的边界条件, 即决策类型)跨不同品牌的多个产品选项 vs. 同一品牌内的多个产品选项(将缓和感知威胁对寻求多样性产品的影响.具体地说, 当决策涉及对不同品牌的选择时, 参与者在高)低(感知威胁下表现出更高的多样性寻求.然而, 当决策涉及同一品牌的选择时, 情况就相反了.这项研究使人们对新冠病毒的潜在威胁如何改变寻求多样性的行为有了更深入的了解.
Cyber aggression has become a very troubling social problem. This phenomenon is an interaction problem between individuals and groups in cyberspace. This study aims to examine the role of perceived ...threat mediated by prejudice against cyber-aggression by Indonesian youth. The method used in this study is a quantitative survey with structural equation modelling analysis, namely the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The sample in this study used a purposive sampling technique, with 1118 teenagers as respondents from several cities in Indonesia, using techniques of web-based self-report personality scales. The results show that the theoretical model of adolescent cyber-aggression behavior is in accordance with empirical conditions in the field because it meets the goodness of fit model standard, meaning that the perception of threats mediated by prejudice is simultaneously proven to contribute to adolescent cyber-aggression behavior.
Acts of sexual aggression are sometimes initiated through an online dating arrangement or encounter (e.g., through Tinder, Bumble). Certain personality and physical traits may be predictive of such ...sexual aggression propensity, and thus evident in online dating profiles (e.g., biographies and photographs). However, it is unclear whether (1) people are sensitive to such “red flags” and (2) whether safety recommendations employed by online dating platforms effectively enhance such sensitivity. For the first time, using an online dating simulation, we experimentally investigated the extent to which women's (n = 167) expressions of interest in men were sensitive to (i.e., influenced by) cues of threat in the men's online dating biographies and photographs, and whether the presence (vs absence) of safety recommendations enhanced this sensitivity. We find fewer expressions of interest for high (vs low) threat dating profiles, although the magnitude of this threat sensitivity/aversion effect varied across women and was not enhanced by safety recommendations. We identify some individual difference factors associated with this threat sensitivity/aversion, but our work underscores the importance of developing other interventions, technologies, or safeguards that screen for, or assist with, identifying such threats, making online dating interactions safer for all users.
•Facial and biographical threat cues in online dating profiles reduce expressions of interest.•Common online dating safety recommendations do not enhance such threat sensitivity.•Women more susceptible to boredom showed reduced threat aversion/sensitivity.•Additional technologies/approaches are required to detect/protect against online dating threats.
Background: Currently, almost all countries in the world are experiencing cases of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 disease has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...after almost most of the countries in the world were infected with COVID-19. One of the ways to prevent COVID-19 is determined by perception of threat to COVID-19 that occurs in the community. Objectives: This study aims to determine the relationship between threat perception and COVID-19 prevention behavior in Sukoharjo Regency. Methods: The type of research used was analytical observational with a cross-sectional approach. The population was all residents aged 15-65 years in Sukoharjo Regency of 618,992 in 2018 with a total sample of 246 people from simple random sampling technique. The research was conducted in October-December 2020. The research instrument used was questionnaires which were filled out directly by the respondents through google form. The research variables were threat perception and COVID-19 prevention behavior. Bivariate statistical test using chi square test. Results: The results showed that respondent's perception of the threat of COVID-19, the perception was high (67.1%) with high COVID-19 prevention behavior as well (58.8%). Threat perception influenced mask wearing behavior (OR= 2.68; P value<0.031), hand washing behavior (OR= 3.39; P value<0.001), and social distancing behavior (OR= 3.39; P value<0.001). There was a relationship between threat perception and COVID-19 prevention behavior in Sukoharjo Regency (P value<0.000). Conclusion: The study concluded that threat perception was related to COVID-19 prevention behavior, both the behavior of using masks, washing hands and social distancing. There is a need for regional government policies to maintain the behavior of preventing COVID-19 in order to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia
"The possibility of being a victim of a crime is ever present on my mind; thinking about it as natural as breathing."—40-year-old woman
This is a compelling analysis of how women in the United States ...perceive the threat of crime in their everyday lives and how that perception controls their behavior. Esther Madriz draws on focus groups and in-depth interviews to show the damage that fear can wreak on women of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Although anxiety about crime affects virtually every woman, Madriz shows that race and class position play a role in a woman's sense of vulnerability.
Fear of crime has resulted in public demand for stronger and more repressive policies throughout the country. As funds for social programs are cut, Madriz points out, those for more prisons and police are on the increase. She also illustrates how media images of victims—"good" victims aren't culpable, "bad" victims invite trouble—and a tough political stance toward criminals are linked to a general climate of economic uncertainty and conservatism.
Madriz argues that fear itself is a strong element in keeping women in subservient and self-limiting social positions. "Policing" themselves, they construct a restricted world that leads to positions of even greater subordination: Being a woman means being vulnerable. Considering the enormous attention given to crime today, including victims' rights and use of public funds, Madriz's informative study is especially timely.
Objective: This study investigated the impact of war exposure on post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and sleep disturbance across Ukraine. Subjective and objective indicators of war exposure were ...modelled as predictors of these symptoms.Methods: We created two predictors: first, we used governmental and crowd-sourced data to create an objective war exposure index for each of the 21 non-occupied regions of Ukraine, based on the number of air raid alarms, explosions, and proximity to frontline; and second, we obtained self-report cross-sectional data, using convenience sampling, from a nation-wide survey (N = 991) on subjective experience of threat triggered by the war. The survey also measured the outcome variables of PTSS and sleep disturbance. Hierarchical multilevel regressions modelled the relationship of this objective war exposure index with the two outcome variables, after accounting for demographics. A final regression step modelled subjective threat as predictor of these symptoms.Results: We observed strongly elevated levels of PTSS and sleep disturbance and strong regional differences in objective and subjective war indicators. Objective war exposure predicted PTSS but not sleep disturbance, whereas subjective threat predicted both symptom domains.Conclusion: The study demonstrates the utility of objective war exposure data for predicting the prevalence of PTSS in the different regions. The results further underscore the prominent role of subjective appraisal processes in the symptomatology of PTSS and sleep disturbance, thus informing theories on trauma-related disorders. Our results can guide the allocation of mental health services by identifying highly affected regions.Objective: This study investigated the impact of war exposure on post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and sleep disturbance across Ukraine. Subjective and objective indicators of war exposure were modelled as predictors of these symptoms.Methods: We created two predictors: first, we used governmental and crowd-sourced data to create an objective war exposure index for each of the 21 non-occupied regions of Ukraine, based on the number of air raid alarms, explosions, and proximity to frontline; and second, we obtained self-report cross-sectional data, using convenience sampling, from a nation-wide survey (N = 991) on subjective experience of threat triggered by the war. The survey also measured the outcome variables of PTSS and sleep disturbance. Hierarchical multilevel regressions modelled the relationship of this objective war exposure index with the two outcome variables, after accounting for demographics. A final regression step modelled subjective threat as predictor of these symptoms.Results: We observed strongly elevated levels of PTSS and sleep disturbance and strong regional differences in objective and subjective war indicators. Objective war exposure predicted PTSS but not sleep disturbance, whereas subjective threat predicted both symptom domains.Conclusion: The study demonstrates the utility of objective war exposure data for predicting the prevalence of PTSS in the different regions. The results further underscore the prominent role of subjective appraisal processes in the symptomatology of PTSS and sleep disturbance, thus informing theories on trauma-related disorders. Our results can guide the allocation of mental health services by identifying highly affected regions.
Before politicians used refugees as a tool of interstate relations, refugees and asylum seekers were perceived only as a symbolic or realist threat in social perception. With the use of refugees as a ...tool of international politics, the phenomenon of threats felt in society has deepened with securitization and started to pose threats to human security. This dialectical relationship between society and the state also changes and transforms the direction and form of the threat. The study will investigate how symbolic or realistic threat perceptions in the public have evolved into securitization by governments, how these two phenomena strengthen each other, and what they mean in terms of human security. The quantitative data used in this study will be explained with integrated threat and securitization theories. This study aims to examine the variations in threat perceptions associated with refugees in Europe, employing an integrated threat theory framework. The focus will be on investigating questions such as “What types of threats are attributed to the presence of refugees and asylum seekers in European countries?” and “What factors contribute to the divergence in perceived threats?”. Furthermore, the study will explore the implications of these divergent threat perceptions on national and regional migration governance within each country. This paper will focus on the refugee crisis and examine the cases of Turkey, Greece, and Germany, which are mainly on the refugee transit route and host the largest number of refugees in Europe. In order to describe which threat perception has a decisive impact on Europe, the 7th wave (2017-2020) datasets provided by the “World Values Survey (WVS)” from 2010-2022 will be examined in comparison with previous waves. The cases of Germany, Turkey, and Greece in these datasets will be the main focus of the study.
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