The Framing of Risks and the Communication of Subjective Probabilities for Victimizations

Krumpal, Ivar; Rauhut, Heiko; Böhr, Dorothea; Naumann, Elias (2011). The Framing of Risks and the Communication of Subjective Probabilities for Victimizations. Quality and quantity, 45(6), pp. 1331-1348. Dordrecht: Springer 10.1007/s11135-010-9336-6

Preview

Text s11135-010-9336-6.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (365kB) | Preview

What does ‘likely’ mean, when respondents estimate the risk to become a victim of crime? Victimization risks can either be interpreted as gains (“being spared of offences”) or as losses (“becoming a victim of crime”). Because losses are perceived as more severe, respondents will state lower subjective victimization probabilities in the loss-frame, compared to the gain-frame. We demonstrate such a framing-effect with data from an experimental survey. Furthermore, we show that the meaning of vague quantifiers varies with the frequency and the severity of the event. Respondents assign to the same vague quantifiers (e.g. ‘unlikely’) higher likelihoods in terms of percentages for frequent and for less severe events than for infrequent and for severe events. In conclusion, respondents do not use vague quantifiers consistently so that it is problematic to compare subjective risks for different victimizations.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

29 since deposited on 04 Oct 2013
17 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item