Television viewing and fear of victimization: Is the relationship causal?
Doob and Macdonald examine earlier findings that heavy television viewers are more likely to fear their environment, which others took to mean that television leads people to overestimate danger nearby. They test whether the apparent effect was due to a previously uncontrolled factor, the actual amount of crime in the neighbourhood. Respondents to a door-to-door survey reported their media use and estimated their chances of being a victim of violence, in neighbourhoods chosen to include both high-crime and low-crime areas.
Doob and Macdonald examine earlier findings that heavy television viewers are more likely to fear their environment, which others took to mean that television leads people to overestimate danger nearby. They test whether the apparent effect was due to a previously uncontrolled factor, the actual amount of crime in the neighbourhood. Respondents to a door-to-door survey reported their media use and estimated their chances of being a victim of violence, in neighbourhoods chosen to include both high-crime and low-crime areas.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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Doob, A. N., & Macdonald, G. E. (1979). Television viewing and fear of victimization: Is the relationship causal? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(2), 170-179. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.2.170.