Dysfunctional Fear? Explaining (Mis)alignment among the Emotive and Cognitive Dimensions of Reactions to Victimization Threat

Victimization threat appraisals contain both cognitive and emotive components. Ideally, for precautionary choices, both components support one another; however, an imbalance has been a persistent concern in the fear of victimization literature, but there is little theory to account for why. We explore a theory that might account for (1) the sources of variation in the extent of threat reactions and (2) imbalances between cognitive perceptions of risk and emotional worry. Our method employs an item response theory (IRT) approach to measurement in a multilevel regression framework using a national sample of 1,500 adults from the United States. Results show significant evidence of variation in the balance of cognition and emotion in threat reactions, and these imbalances are predictable.