Fear dispositions in situational fear of crime: A virtual reality study

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates how dispositional fear, personal fear of crime, and situational fear of crime interact, offering the first empirical test of their triadic relationship. The aim is to clarify how fear as a stable personality trait shapes momentary, context-specific (state) fear responses.

Methods

Participants, drawn from a student sample, were immersed in a standardized urban neighbourhood using Virtual Reality. This controlled for variation in physical and social environmental features, allowing for a focused examination of fear of crime. Measures of dispositional fear, personal fear of crime, and situational fear of crime were collected and analysed across four crime types: theft, verbal aggression, physical aggression, and sexually transgressive behaviour.

Results

Across all crime types, personal fear of crime fully mediated the relationship between dispositional fear and situational fear of crime. Students with higher dispositional fear—reflecting a general tendency toward anxiety—were more likely to interpret crime as personally threatening, which subsequently heightened their situational fear responses within the VR environment. This pattern demonstrates how enduring personality characteristics influence real-time emotional reactions to environmental cues.

Conclusions

Results not only support the longstanding trait–state distinction but also contextualize it within the fear of crime literature. The results highlight the importance of incorporating dispositional fear measures when attempting to understand or predict situational fear of crime across diverse contexts. Future research should continue integrating personality-based factors to refine theoretical models of fear of crime.