Terror threat perception and its consequences in contemporary Britain

Bibliographic Data

ID5267682
AuthorsR Goodwin (0000-0002-2407-7016, Brunel University of London, corresponding author), Michelle Willson (Brunel University of London), Gaines Stanley (Brunel University of London)
Year2005
Volume96
Issue4
Pages389-406
Publication date2005-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1348/000712605x62786
PMID16248932
OpenAlexW2137210462
LanguageEN
Citations received36
References cited44

The terrorist attacks of 9/11, and subsequent terrorist acts around the world, have alerted social psychologists to the need to examine the antecedents and consequences of terrorist threat perception. In these two studies, we examined the predictive power of demographic factors (age, gender, location), individual values and normative influences on threat perception and the consequences of this perception for behavioural change and close relationships. In Study 1 (N=100), gender, benevolence values and normative influences were all correlates of threat perception, whilst sense of personal threat was correlated with increased contact with friends and family. In Study 2 (N=240) age, gender, location, and the values of openness to change and hedonism, all predicted threat perception, which, in turn, predicted behavioural change and relationship contact. Such findings point to the important role social psychologists should play in understanding responses to these new terrorist threats

Cognitive psychology · Perception · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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