University of Twente Student Theses
The protection motivation and protective behaviour of people towards the risk of burglaries : the influence of perspective taking and knowledge of neighbour help
Boers, I. (2015) The protection motivation and protective behaviour of people towards the risk of burglaries : the influence of perspective taking and knowledge of neighbour help.
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| Abstract: | Introduction. Dutch citizens show negligent behaviour towards the risk of burglaries. Interventions to create awareness specifically for burglaries and thefts appear not to be effective enough in decreasing the amount of reported burglaries. Rogers’ (1983) Protection Motivation Theory learns us that the psychological processes ‘threat appraisal’ and ‘coping appraisal’ are essential in the process leading to protection motivation and protective behaviour towards risks. It was expected that by letting people take the perspective of the burglar and creating awareness of what your neighbours can do to help you protect your home against burglars, protection motivation and protective behaviour would increase. Method. A 3 (risk awareness) * 2 (time) design was used. Risk awareness was manipulated by giving basic advice on preventive measures, taking the perspective of the burglar and giving advice on what you can do with your neighbours. The second part of the design, ‘time’, was carried out by conducting two questionnaires: two weeks after the first questionnaire the respondents were asked to fill in the second one. A total of 124 respondents completed both questionnaires. Results. Self-efficacy and fear had a significant influence on the protection motivation and protective behaviour of people towards the risk of burglaries. The manipulations did not have a significant effect on both protection motivation and protective behaviour. Also threat appraisal and coping appraisal were not significantly influenced by the manipulations. Discussion. The manipulations in this study did not show the expected effect on protection motivation and protective behaviour. Although not influenced by the manipulations, ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘fear’ appeared to be important in influencing protection motivation and protective behaviour towards the risk of burglaries. This finding emphasizes the importance of both threat appraisal and coping appraisal in the protection motivation and protective behaviour towards the risk of burglaries. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/68590 |
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