The current study seeks to enhance the theoretical development of fear of crime by exploring the complex cognitive processes involved in risk perception formation. We apply Trope and Liberman’s construal level theory (CLT) of psychological distance to understand how and why these complex cognitive processes might shape an individual’s worry about crime. We pilot survey measures designed to capture perceptions of psychological distance and worry about crime using a convenience sample of N = 265 residents from Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Results of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) reveal that these new measures have good scaling properties and that each dimension of psychological distance is empirically distinct. Multiple linear regression demonstrates that temporal, social and hypothetical psychological distance predicted worry at a statistically significant level, however, spatial distance was in the expected direction but was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that CLT is an appropriate lens to understand how individuals perceive their risk of criminal victimisation, but further research is needed to refine spatial distance survey measures. We recommend future research explores how psychological distance may interact with other well-known correlates of worry, such as age, gender and ethnicity.

目前的研究旨在通过探索风险感知形成所涉及的复杂认知过程来加强对犯罪恐惧的理论发展。我们应用 Trope 和 Liberman 的心理距离解释水平理论 (CLT) 来了解这些复杂的认知过程如何以及为什么会影响个人对犯罪的担忧。我们使用来自澳大利亚昆士兰州汤斯维尔的 N = 265 名居民的便利样本，试行调查措施，旨在捕捉对心理距离的看法和对犯罪的担忧。验证性因素分析 (CFA) 的结果表明，这些新措施具有良好的缩放特性，并且心理距离的每个维度在经验上都是不同的。多元线性回归表明时间，社会和假设的心理距离在统计显着水平上预测了担忧，然而，空间距离在预期的方向上，但没有统计显着性。这些研究结果表明，CLT 是了解个人如何看待其犯罪受害风险的合适镜头，但需要进一步研究以完善空间距离调查措施。我们建议未来的研究探索心理距离如何与其他众所周知的担忧相关因素相互作用，例如年龄、性别和种族。但需要进一步研究以完善空间距离调查措施。我们建议未来的研究探索心理距离如何与其他众所周知的担忧相关因素相互作用，例如年龄、性别和种族。但需要进一步研究以完善空间距离调查措施。我们建议未来的研究探索心理距离如何与其他众所周知的担忧相关因素相互作用，例如年龄、性别和种族。