Can neighborhood apps alter our perception of our communities? A team of researchers hope to answer this by examining how neighborhood apps like Nextdoor and others could exacerbate the perception of crime in someone’s area when they read about one occurring using these apps. This study holds the potential to help reduce the negative effects such apps have on the human psyche.
“Neighborhood apps are a great way to keep up with and build one’s community. However, the constant notifications regarding crime might cultivate an availability bias which impacts perceptions of local crime rates,” the study reports. “In two studies, we confirmed our hypothesis that those who use neighborhood apps would perceive local crime rates to be higher in their communities than those who do not, independent of the actual crime rates.”
Society is blasted daily with negative media reports, and this could have an impact on an individual’s attitude, cognition, and behavior. One such example is crime drama like Law & Order and CSI, which could shape a person’s view that the world is dangerous compared to those who don’t watch such media.
“Seeing is believing. Personal experience is easier to process than statistical information, so we often rely too heavily on our experiences and anecdotes,” said Dr. Adam Fetterman, who is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Houston, and lead author of the study. “When the science does not match our personal experience, we will be more likely to deny the science.”
For the study, the researchers conducted surveys on 400 U.S. Citizens across 43 states and builds off previous research conducted by Dr. Fetterman regarding science denial, for which he discovered that people generally prefer personal experience on statistics.
“The findings suggest that while actual crime rates are significantly associated with perceptions of crime rates, the use of neighborhood apps or websites led to higher biased perceptions of crime rates when controlling for actual crime rates,” said Dr. Fetterman. “The frequent use of such services by a large portion of the population suggests that the findings, if robust, could have important implications for perceptions and behaviors related to people’s neighborhoods.”
What new discoveries will researchers make about crime apps and the human psyche in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
Sources: Psychology of Popular Media, University of Houston
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
