Fear from a distance: testing a new model of psychological distance and fear of crime

This study tests a new model of fear of crime. We hypothesise that community members who perceive crime as psychologically proximal (e.g. likely to happen soon in their immediate environment) will experience more intense feelings of worry about crime. We analyse survey data collected from a convenience sample of N = 719 residents from Queensland, Australia. In support of our hypothesis, psychological distance from crime explains a total of 58% of the variance within worry about crime at a statistically significant level (t = -20.14, p < .001). Our findings provide an empirical foundation for fear of crime reduction strategies designed to increase community members' psychological distance from crime. Future directions are discussed.