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Guided by General Theory of Crime and Psychosocial Maturity Hypothesis, we investigated co‐development between short‐term mindsets (impulsivity and future orientation) and risk behaviors (cannabis use and delinquency). Parallel process latent growth modeling on three‐wave data from ethnically diverse Swiss adolescents (N = 1365; Mage 13.67 years, 48.6% female), showed baseline‐level associations between short‐term mindsets and risk behaviors, and between the two risk behaviors. Additionally, correlated change (co‐development) existed between short‐term mindsets—particularly impulsivity—and delinquency, but not between short‐term mindsets and cannabis use. These results support the above‐mentioned theories and emphasize the importance of investigating the correlates of change in delinquency and cannabis use separately, as divergent findings might emerge. These divergent findings could partially stem from Switzerland's liberal views on cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the deterrent effects of neighbourhood watch signs and police signs as measures of symbolic guardianship on burglars versus non-offenders. In a virtual reality experiment, 181 burglars and 172 non-offenders scouted a virtual neighbourhood and were exposed to neighbourhood watch signs and/or signs suggesting police surveillance in the area. With neighbourhood watch signs present, both burglars and non-offenders perceived the neighbourhood residents as more likely to intervene. Burglars were also more likely to select a target closer to the exit than non-offenders when neighbourhood watch signs were present. The presence of police signs reduced the time spent scouting and the distance travelled for both burglars and non-offenders. Furthermore, as compared to non-offenders burglars selected houses with easier access, travelled less distance, and reported higher anticipation of neighbourhood resident intervention. Symbolic guardianship through neighbourhood watch or police sign seems to elicit only small effects in deterring burglars. They should not immediately be discounted as preventive measures, however, as small-effect interventions may be valuable as additions to well-established interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morality as a Contextual Cue Another way in which crime researchers have tried to capture the influence of context is through the use of written scenarios or vignettes. Context, crime, decision making, rational choice, peers, morality Keywords: context; crime; decision making; rational choice; peers; morality EN context crime decision making rational choice peers morality 407 415 9 05/18/23 20230701 NES 230701 Introduction This special issue is the result of a workshop held on 22 October 2021 at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg, Germany. Early perceptual deterrence studies asked respondents to estimate the risk of arrest for specific crimes without reference to circumstances, leading them to impute the circumstances of the crime themselves ([11]). [Extracted from the article]

Trait‐state models aim to provide an encompassing view of offender decision‐making processes by linking individual dispositions to proximal factors. In an experiment using an immersive virtual reality bar fight scenario, we propose and test a trait‐state model that identifies the pathways through which robust personality correlates of aggressive behavior, that is, agreeableness, emotionality, and honesty‐humility, result in intentions to aggress. Using structural equation modeling, we show how these personality traits relate to intentions to aggress via anger, fear, perceived risk, and anticipated guilt/shame. Additionally, we demonstrate superior validity of our virtual scenario over a written version of the same scenario by virtue of its ability to provide more contextual realism, to establish a stronger sense of presence, and to trigger more intense emotional states relevant to the decision situation. Implications for future decision‐making research and theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we test an intervention in which convicted offenders interacted with an age-progressed avatar representing their future selves in virtual reality. During the interaction, they reflected on their current lifestyle, alternating between the perspective of their present self and that of their future self. We hypothesized that this embodied experience would increase their ability to imagine themselves in the future and reduce their engagement in self-defeating behavior, as measured with a self-report survey. In line with expectations, results indicated that the interaction increased vividness of the future self compared to baseline and reduced self-defeating behavior, including alcohol use and overspending, one week later. In addition, increases in vividness were associated with a reduction in self-defeating behavior over and above other concepts relating to the future self, including connectedness, similarity, and valence. The results are based on a small sample and should therefore be considered as indicative of the possibilities of our virtual reality paradigm as an intervention tool to reduce self-defeating behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The companions in crime hypothesis suggests that co-offending moderates the link between peer delinquency and adolescent delinquency. However, this hypothesis has rarely been investigated longitudinally. Hence, this study investigated the co-development of friends' delinquency and adolescents' delinquency, as well as the co-development of friends' delinquency and short-term mindsets (impulsivity and lack of school future orientation). Whether this co-development is stronger when adolescents engage in co-offending was also investigated. Three data waves with two year lags from an ethnically-diverse adolescent sample (at wave 1: N = 1365; 48.6% female; Mage = 13.67; age range = 12.33–15.09 years) in Switzerland were used. The results from parallel process latent growth modeling showed that the co-development between friends' delinquency and adolescents' delinquency was stronger when adolescents engaged in co-offending. Thus co-offending likely provides direct access to a setting in which adolescents continue to model the delinquency they learned with their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) technology has convincingly demonstrated its potential for assessment, training, rehabilitation and treatment purposes in a variety of domains, including (mental) healthcare and education. This paper explores the possibilities for VR application within criminal justice practice. Criminological literature and literature of related disciplines on VR applications were reviewed with a special focus on risk assessment, correctional rehabilitation, and reintegration. We also devoted attention to the VR-based treatment of anxiety-related disorders among victims of crime. Literature shows that VR can provide safe learning environments that would otherwise involve risk, generate ethical and ecologically valid virtual alternatives for which real-life situations would be unethical to use, and develop environments that are impossible to create in the real life. These unique characteristics make VR a promising tool to expand the current toolbox of risk assessment instruments, and correctional rehabilitation and reintegration programs in important ways. Before implementing VR in criminal justice practice, an elementary understanding of both the advantages and disadvantages of VR technology is desirable but given a longstanding and effective VR tradition in other domains, the future of VR in criminal justice practice is bright. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guardianship is a core tenet of routine activity theory and collective efficacy. At its outset, routine activity research assumed that the mere presence of a guardian was sufficient to disrupt many forms of crime. More recent research, however, has taken as a starting point that would‐be‐guardians must take on an active role for a reduction in crime to occur. Integrating research on bystander intervention and guardianship‐in‐action, the current study elaborates the individual‐level motivations and decision processes of guardianship to answer the following questions: Who serves as a reactive guardian? How do they do so? And why? We tasked young adults (N = 1,032) included in the recent waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z‐proso) to assess a 70‐second video depicting a sexual harassment event. We examined participants' willingness to engage in a range of intervention options as a function of their prosocial attitudes, safety considerations, socioemotional motivations, and moral considerations. Results show a complex decision process leading to whether and how a would‐be guardian decides to intervene to disrupt sexual harassment, such that prosocial motivations and emotional reactions are weighed against perceptions of danger when deciding on a specific course of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intention-behavior gap is a common phenomenon where people fail to follow through on their intentions to change their behavior and pursue their future goals. Previous research has shown that people are more likely to act in favor of their future selves when they feel similar/connected to their future self and can vividly describe them. This study compared an imagination exercise with an integrated imagination and exposure exercise using virtual reality (VR) to embody age-morphed future selves to an imagination only exercise. We expected that strengthening the similarity/connectedness and the vividness of the future self would reduce the intention-behavior gap, and exposure to the future self would have the greatest effect. Surprisingly, the results showed that strengthening connectedness reduced the intention-behavior gap, but strengthening similarity increased the gap. Additionally, the exercises were equally effective in reducing the intention-behavior gap. These findings suggest that both feeling connected to and recognizing dissimilarity to one's future self play different roles in future-oriented behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study proposes an alternative hypothetical scenario method capitalizing on the potential of virtual reality (VR). Rather than asking participants to imagine themselves in a specific situation, VR perceptually immerses them in it. We hypothesized that experiencing a scenario in VR would increase feelings of being "present" in the situation, and add to perceived realism compared to the written equivalent. This, in turn, was expected to trigger stronger emotional experiences influencing subsequent behavioral intentions. Methods: In an experiment, participants (N = 153), visitors of a large music festival, either read a "bar fight" scenario or experienced the scenario in VR. Following the scenario, they were presented a series of questions including intention to aggress, perceived risk, anticipated shame/guilt, presence, perceived realism, and anger. Analyses were conducted using analysis of variance, stepwise regression, and mediation analysis using nonparametric bootstrapping. Results: In line with expectations, the results indicate significant differences between conditions with the VR scenario triggering stronger presence, higher realism, and higher intention to aggress. Importantly, presence and anger mediated the relation between condition and intention to aggress. Conclusions: We show that the VR scenario method may provide benefits over written scenarios for the study of criminal decision-making. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from life history theory and developmental perspectives, we test the hypothesis that the relation between parental discipline practices and delinquency is explained in part by short-term mindsets. We argue that such practices induce an orientation towards the here-and-now rather than the future, which, in turn, promotes delinquency. We used longitudinal data (N = 1,197) from the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood into Adulthood (z-proso). We distinguished between two types of disciplining practices, corporal and inconsistent punishment, which map onto two main environmental parameters, harshness and unpredictability. Results show that short-term mindsets, operationalized by impulsivity and low future orientation, mediate the relation between corporal and erratic punishment and delinquency, with impulsivity being the most important mediator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared participant responses on three written guardianship scenarios versus visualized versions of the same scenarios in terms of realism, presence, negative affect elicited by the situation, perceived ris, and the choice to intervene. We find that people who received the visual scenarios report higher presence, but not realism, than those who received the written version. Furthermore, visual scenarios elicited stronger negative affect and resulted in a lower likelihood to intervene. Finally, presence, but not negative affect, mediated the relation between condition and the choice to intervene. Implications of the visual scenario method for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This article explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) to study burglary by measuring user responses on the subjective, physiological, and behavioral levels. Furthermore, it examines the influence of individual dispositions, such as sensation seeking and self-control, on behavior during a virtual burglary event. Methods: Participants, male university undergraduates (N = 77), could freely move around a virtual neighborhood wearing a VR headset and using a game controller and were instructed to burgle one of the houses in the neighborhood. Participant movement, items stolen from the house, and heart rate (HR) were recorded throughout the burglary event. Individual dispositions were measured before, and subjective user responses were measured after, the event. Additionally, we experimentally varied whether there was an alarm sounding and participants' beliefs about the chance of getting caught (deterrence). Results: Participants reacted subjectively to the burglary event by reporting high levels of presence in the virtual environment (VE) and physiologically by showing increased HRs. In terms of behavior, high deterrence resulted in fewer items being stolen and a shorter burglary. Furthermore, sensation seekers stole more valuable items, while participants high in conscientiousness stole fewer items. Conclusions: The results suggest that VEs have substantial potential for studying criminal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyberspace creates opportunities for new forms of crime that may be related to specific personality characteristics of offenders. Few studies have investigated the personality characteristics of cyber offenders. We address this gap by comparing a judicial sample of 261 suspects of cyber-dependent crime, 260 suspects of offline crime, and a community sample of 512 participants on the HEXACO personality domains and their underlying facets. This provides a nuanced picture of the cybercriminal personality and could provide information for prevention and intervention programs. Results indicate that, compared to suspects of offline crime, suspected cyber offenders score significantly lower on extraversion and significantly higher on conscientiousness and openness to experience. Cyber offenders are more similar to community participants on these main personality domains. With regard to the underlying facets, suspected cyber offenders appear to be unique in their relatively high level of diligence. They are more similar to suspected offline offenders on traits that may help them perform criminal activities, such as lower levels of modesty, fearfulness, and flexibility. They are more similar to the community sample, however, on traits that may strengthen their ability or tendency to commit cyber offenses, such as higher levels of patience, perfectionism, and prudence. • Compared to offline offenders, cyber offenders' personality scores are more similar to those of a community sample. • Cyber offenders score particularly high on Diligence, a facet of Conscientiousness. • Cyber and offline offenders share low scores on Modesty, Fearfulness, Flexibility, and Aesthetic Appreciation. • Cyber offenders are in between offline offenders and the community sample on Honesty-Humility. • Cyber offenders and the community sample share higher scores on Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study linked individual characteristics to proximate factors operating in the moment of decision-making to predict occupational crime. We distinguished between people’s task-related conscience, as embodied by the Conscientiousness personality trait, and a more general moral conscience as embodied by the Honesty-Humility trait, hypothesizing that both traits are differentially related to the way situational characteristics, such as costs and benefits, are perceived. We operationalized the concept of ‘felt lure’ emanating from the benefits of a crime, defining it as an affective state that tempts people to commit a criminal act, and examined it next to perceived risk of sanction as a proximate predictor of criminal choice. In line with our predictions, Conscientiousness and Honesty-Humility significantly predicted occupational criminal choice as did felt lure and perceived risk. Specifically, perceived risk and felt lure mediated the relations between Conscientiousness and Honesty-Humility on the one hand, and occupational criminal choice on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in most other Latin American cities, a principal way of accessing housing for the urban poor in Buenos Aires has been through the illegal occupation of land. Over a period of roughly eight decades, this has led to the formation of hundreds of informal settlements in the city. This article traces the historical development of informality in Argentina’s capital. It shows that different phases in this development, each with particular characteristics, can be discerned. Currently, the contours of a new phase, different from all previous ones, are taking shape. It will be argued that without an adequate understanding of the different conditioning factors of this new phase and an integrated approach to address them, informality in the city is bound to persist and even to increase in size, in spite of the country’s impressive recent economic growth and high government expenditure on social housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applied a decision-making perspective to examine the causal mechanisms underlying the relation between violent victimization and offending. We theorized that having been victimized affects an individual's appraisal of subsequent potentially conflictive situations in such a way that victims become more attuned toward the benefits of violence perpetration than toward its costs. Furthermore, we argued that this altered appraisal mediates the relation between violent victimization and violent offending. We tested these hypotheses by using data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths, a longitudinal study of Swiss youth (N = 1,013; 11-15 years of age). In line with expectations, path analysis results showed that prior victimization influenced the appraisal of decision-making situations that, in turn, predicted subsequent self-reported violent offending. Importantly, these mediation effects held when controlling for a variety of time-stable factors, such as self-control and risky activities, as well as prior victimization and delinquency. Implications for research and theorizing on the victim-offender overlap are elaborated in the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Engagement with smartphone-based interventions stimulates adherence and improves the likelihood of gaining benefits from intervention content. Research often relies on system usage data to capture engagement. However, to what extent usage data reflect engagement is still an open empirical question. We studied how usage data relate to engagement, and how both relate to intervention outcomes. Methods: We drew data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) (N = 86) evaluating a smartphone-based intervention that aims to stimulate future self-identification (i.e., future self vividness, valence, relatedness). General app engagement and feature-specific engagement were retrospectively measured. Usage data (i.e., duration, number of logins, number of days used, exposure to intervention content) were unobtrusively registered. Results: Engagement and usage data were not correlated. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that general app engagement predicted future self vividness (p =.042) and relatedness (p =.004). Furthermore, engagement with several specific features also predicted aspects of future self-identification (p =.005 –.032). For usage data, the number of logins predicted future self vividness (p =.042) and exposure to intervention content predicted future self valence (p =.002). Conclusions: Usage data did not reflect engagement and the latter was the better predictor of intervention outcomes. Thus, the relation between usage data and engagement is likely to be intervention-specific and the unqualified use of the former as an indicator of the latter may result in measurement error. We provide recommendations on how to capture engagement and app use in more valid ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research the effects of personality and organizational characteristics on workplace delinquency were investigated. In a sample of 455 respondents from a wide variety of organizations, two personality traits, HEXACO Honesty–Humility and Conscientiousness, and two organizational characteristics, ethical culture and employee surveillance, explained a significant amount of variance in workplace delinquency. No interaction effects between personality and organizational practices in the explanation of workplace delinquency were found. Results are discussed in light of the role of personality and Routine Activity Theory in predicting unethical behaviors, delinquency, and/or occupational crime in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opinion research shows that the general public tends to perceive noncustodial sanctions, such as suspended sentences, as too lenient while being largely ignorant about their nature. In two studies among representative samples of the Dutch population, the authors examine public opinion about and knowledge of suspended sentences in the Netherlands. Findings suggest that knowledge of suspended sentences is positively related to their perceived punitiveness and beliefs in their effectiveness. Furthermore, opinions about suspended sentences are related to general penal attitudes. More punitive attitudes translate into less favorable opinions. Finally, providing information about suspended sentences can lead to more positive attitudes and greater belief in their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tenure security is widely believed to contribute to low-income settlement development by encouraging investment in housing improvement. However, in spite of consensus about its importance, it is still unclear what tenure security exactly entails and few studies have examined how it relates to housing improvement. Using survey data from six informal neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we empirically test a model that specifies how the different types of tenure security that feature in academic and policy debates relate to each other, and the extent to which each predicts investment in housing improvement. We find that legal tenure security and de facto security of tenure influence investment in part through increases in perceptions of tenure security. We conclude that the hypothesized model accurately predicts investment in housing improvement and discuss how these findings inform current debates on tenure security and informality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a general framework of criminal decision making that assumes both ‘cool’ cognition and ‘hot’ affect, i.e. feelings, to influence criminal choice. Drawing from judgment and decision making research and social psychology, the hot/cool perspective extends rational choice and deterrence theories by explaining how affect is likely to influence criminal decisions alongside cognitive considerations, such as the perceived costs and benefits of crime. It is shown how the hot/cool perspective offers a more realistic account of criminal decision making processes than existing decision models and approaches and also allows for the explanation of criminal behaviors that are difficult to explain in terms of rational choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tendency to live in the here and now, and the failure to think through the delayed consequences of behavior, is one of the strongest individual-level correlates of delinquency. We tested the hypothesis that this correlation results from a limited ability to imagine one’s self in the future, which leads to opting for immediate gratification. Strengthening the vividness of the future self should therefore reduce involvement in delinquency. We tested and found support for this hypothesis in two studies. In Study 1, compared with participants in a control condition, those who wrote a letter to their future self were less inclined to make delinquent choices. In Study 2, participants who interacted with a realistic digital version of their future, age-progressed self in a virtual environment were less likely than control participants to cheat on a subsequent task. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This study compared the Five-Factor and HEXACO personality correlates of two common self-control constructs – Tangney self-control and Grasmick self-control – and their relations with delinquency. In both a student and a community sample, conscientiousness (mainly the prudence facet) was the most consistent and strongest correlate of both constructs. HEXACO honesty–humility was an important correlate of Grasmick self-control but not of Tangney self-control. Additionally, honesty–humility (mainly the fairness facet) was the most consistent predictor of delinquency, whereas the two self-control scales differed in the extent to which they predicted delinquency across samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We propose and test a model of criminal decision making that integrates the individual differences perspective with research and theorizing on proximal factors. The individual differences perspective is operationalized using the recent HEXACO personality structure. This structure incorporates the main personality traits, but it carries the advantage of also incorporating Self-Control within its personality sphere, and an additional trait termed Honesty-Humility. Furthermore, the model offers a new perspective on proximal predictors, 'states,' of criminal decisions by adding affect (i.e., feelings) to the rational choice-crime equation. The proposed model is tested using scenario data from a representative sample of the Dutch population in terms of gender, age, education level, and province (N = 495). As predicted by the model, personality was both directly and indirectly related to criminal decision making. Specifically, the traits Emotionality, Self-Control, and Honesty-Humility were mediated by both affect and rational choice variables. Conscientiousness operated only indirectly on criminal decision making via rational choice. Together, the findings support a trait-state model of criminal decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Latin American cities, around a third of the urban population lives in tenure situations that can be designated as informal, yet variation in the ways and extent to which these arrangements do not comply with law is extensive. Furthermore, informal dwellers often employ a variety of strategies to legitimize and ultimately legalize their tenure, implying a dynamic rather than a static relationship between illegality and legality. Conceiving of land tenure in dichotomous terms, as simply being either legal or illegal, therefore, fails to reflect this diversity, nor does it capture the evolving nature of the relationship between informal settlements and the state system. Drawing from the development of squatter settlements in Buenos Aires, this article proposes an alternative perspective and shows how settlements alternate strategies of noncompliance with adaptation to the state legal system to gradually increase their legality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In an effort to improve slums and reduce poverty, many developing countries have embarked on mass land titling programs. Yet empirical evidence supporting their assumed beneficial effects has not been readily forthcoming. Following the implementation of mass titling programs in Indonesia, this paper empirically examines the relationships between land titling, perceptions of tenure security, and housing consolidation in seven kampongs in the city of Bandung. It presents evidence that titling indeed contributed–albeit modestly–to people''s perceptions of tenure security, and that both land titling and perceived tenure security enhance housing consolidation; but also that the relationship is more problematic than is often assumed. The results put into doubt whether titling programs in urban Indonesia are actually benefiting the right group, as those who would be best served by the programs can rarely participate in them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the relationship between perceived tenure security and housing improvement in informal neighbourhoods is examined drawing from a case in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A perspective based on recent insights from social psychological research on judgment and decision making under uncertainty is introduced to operationalize the concept of perceived tenure security and to establish the nature and strength of its frequently assumed relationship with investment behaviour. Following these insights, perceived tenure security is shown to be composed of both the perceived probability of eviction (a thinking state) and the fear of eviction (a feeling state), which are related but separate variables. The results show that perceived tenure security is an important individual variable influencing housing improvement, with fear of eviction being a more important determinant than perceived probability of eviction. These results have important consequences for the future study of tenure security and can also have policy implications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, we investigate how the accumulation of stressful life events and chronic stressors experienced in adolescence predict young adults' future self-identification (i.e., connectedness, vividness, and valence of the future self) in a sample of 1482 Swiss youth. Furthermore, we investigate future self-identification as a source of resilience mediating the association between accumulated stressful life events on the one hand, and increased delinquency and less educational attainment on the other. In line with our hypothesis, we found that experiencing more stressful life events predicted reduced future self-connectedness. This was not the case for vividness and valence of the future self. Furthermore, we found that future self-connectedness partially mediated the association between stressful life events and low educational attainment. Lastly, latent class trajectories revealed that there was no association between the timing of stressful life events – whether in early or late adolescence – and future self-identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-established that individuals who grew up in adverse conditions tend to be slower on the Flanker Task. This finding is typically interpreted to reflect difficulty inhibiting distractions. However, it might result from slower general cognitive processes (e.g., reduced general processing speed), rather than the specific ability of inhibition. We used Drift Diffusion Modeling in three online studies (total N = 1560) with young adults to understand associations of adversity with Flanker performance. We found no associations between exposure to violence and unpredictability with inhibition. Yet, although mixed, violence and unpredictability exposure were associated with lower strength of perceptual input—how well someone can process target and distractor information alike. Finally, people with lower strength of perceptual input processed information more holistically, focusing less on details. Thus, lowered Flanker performance does not necessarily imply lowered inhibition ability. Cognitive modeling reveals a different picture of abilities in adverse conditions as opposed to analyses based on raw performance. • Flanker task performance is influenced by processes other than inhibition ability. • Childhood adversity was not associated with inhibition ability in young adults. • Childhood adversity was associated with lower strength of perceptual input. • Lower strength of perceptual input was linked to a more holistic attention focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed and tested a smartphone-based intervention, FutureU, that aims to stimulate future-oriented thinking and behavior by strengthening the degree to which people identify with their future self. In order to examine the potential of this intervention prototype and opportunities for further optimization, we evaluated 1) the immediate and long-term efficacy of the intervention, and 2) intervention effects after each of three intervention modules. To this end, we conducted a randomized controlled pilot study among first-year university students (N = 176). Results showed a decrease in goal commitment immediately after the intervention. At 3-months follow-up, trends showed an increase in future orientation and in self-efficacy. During the intervention, there was a positive effect on vividness of the future self after the first module. Although there is scope for improvement, the findings highlight the potential of the intervention to increase people's future-oriented thinking and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cybercrime research suggests that, analogous to traditional crime, victims are more likely to be offenders. This overlap could be caused by shared risk factors, but it is unclear if these are comparable to traditional risk factors. Utilizing a high risk sample of computer-dependent cyber-offenders and traditional offenders (N = 535) we compare victimization, offending, and victimization-offending between cybercrime and traditional crime. Cybercrime results show a considerable victim-offender overlap and correlates like low self-control and routine activities partly explain differences in victimization, offending, and victimization-offending. Some cybercrime correlates are related to the digital context, but show similar patterns for cybercrime and traditional crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we describe a new method, the Virtual Enactment Method (VEM), to enhance offender recall and motivation to disclose information by having burglars reflect on their experience while committing a crime in a simulated virtual environment. Participants, a sample of 61 incarcerated burglars, 'thought aloud' whilst undertaking a virtual burglary. Following the 'virtual' burglary, emerging themes were expanded upon in an interview. We show that the simulated environment effectively reinstates the criminogenic event, increases engagement, enhances recall and encourages participants to talk more openly about their experiences, skills and knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trait-environment-state model of Unethical Business Decisions was developed and tested in two studies in a Pacific Islands setting (i.e., Fiji and the Marshall Islands). In Study 1 ( N = 212), we conceptualized and operationalized the environment using two situational variables named ‘Perceived Environmental Corruption’ (PEC) and ‘Perceived Environmental Normativeness’ (PEN). Both environmental variables were (respectively positively and negatively) related to Unethical Business Decisions through the states Felt Lure, Perceived Risk, and (to a lesser extent) Negative Affect. In Study 2 ( N = 235), we replicated these findings and additionally showed that HEXACO Honesty-Humility was negatively related to Unethical Business Decisions through Felt Lure and Negative Affect. Furthermore, an interaction between Honesty-Humility and Perceived Environmental Corruption on Felt Lure was observed, indicating that the negative relation between Honesty-Humility and Felt Lure was stronger when the environment was perceived to afford corruption than when it was not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is massive variation in rates of violence across time and space. These rates are positively associated with economic deprivation and inequality. They also tend to display a degree of local persistence, or 'enduring neighbourhood effects'. Here, we identify a single mechanism that can produce all three observations. We formalize it in a mathematical model, which specifies how individual-level processes generate the population-level patterns. Our model assumes that agents try to keep their level of resources above a 'desperation threshold', to reflect the intuitive notion that one of people's priorities is to always meet their basic needs. As shown in previous work, being below the threshold makes risky actions, such as property crime, beneficial. We simulate populations with heterogeneous levels of resources. When deprivation or inequality is high, there are more desperate individuals, hence a higher risk of exploitation. It then becomes advantageous to use violence, to send a 'toughness signal' to exploiters. For intermediate levels of poverty, the system is bistable and we observe hysteresis: populations can be violent because they were deprived or unequal in the past, even after conditions improve. We discuss implications of our findings for policy and interventions aimed at reducing violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fear of spiders, or Arachnophobia, is one of the most common specific phobias. The gold standard treatment, in vivo exposure therapy, is effective, but comes with significant limitations, including restricted availability, high costs, and high refusal rates. Novel technologies, such as augmented reality, may help to overcome these limitations and make Exposure Therapy more accessible by using mobile devices. Objective: This study will use a Randomized Controlled Trial design to investigate whether ZeroPhobia: Arachnophobia, a 6-week Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy smartphone self-help application, can effectively reduce spider phobia symptoms. Additionally, we will examine user-friendliness of the application and the effect of usage intensity and presence on treatment outcome. Methods: This study is registered in the Netherlands Trial Registry under NL70238.029.19 (Trial NL9221). Ethical approval was received on October 11, 2019. One-hundred-twelve participants (age 18–64, score ≥ 59) on the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire [FSQ] will be recruited from the general Dutch population and randomly assigned to a treatment or waitlist control group. The ZeroPhobia application can be accessed on users' smartphone. Baseline, post-test (i.e., at six weeks), 3- and 12-month follow-up assessments will be done, each including the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire as the main outcome measure as well as additional measures of anxiety, depression, user-friendliness, and presence as secondary measures and covariates. Results: The study was funded on September 25, 2018. Data collection started in September 2021 and the study is expected to run until September 2022. Conclusions: Our study will improve our understanding of the efficacy and feasibility of providing Exposure Therapy for spider phobia using an Augmented Reality self-help application, with the intention of making mental health care more accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violent ideations are increasingly recognized as an important psychological predictor for aggressive and violent behavior. However, little is known about the processes that contribute to violent ideations. This paper examines the extent to which polyvictimization triggers violent ideations in late adolescence and early adulthood, while also adjusting for dispositional and situational factors as well as prior violent ideations. Data came from three waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood into Adulthood (z-proso; n = 1465). Full-information maximum likelihood Tobit models were fitted to regress violent ideations experienced at ages 17 and 20 on multiple victimization experiences in the preceding 12 months while controlling for antecedent developmental risk factors and prior violent ideations. The results showed that violent ideations in late adolescence and early adulthood are influenced by violent thoughts, aggressive behavior, violent media consumption, moral neutralization of violence, and internalizing symptoms measured 2 years earlier. Experiences of polyvictimization significantly contributed to an increase in violent ideations both during late adolescence and in early adulthood. The exposure-response relationship between victimization and violent ideations did not significantly differ by sex. The findings are consistent with the notion that violent ideations are triggered by a retaliation-linked psychological mechanism that entails playing out other directed imaginary aggressive scenarios specifically in response to experiencing intentional harm-doing by others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High levels of Fear of Crime (FOC) are associated with people engaging with their community less, lower use of public spaces, and a general sense of overall anxiety. In short, such fear may reduce the livability of an area. The primary goal of this research was to examine the potential consequences of environmental interventions intended to reduce crime on FOC and perceived livability of the area. Using immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technology, in two studies we examined how environmental interventions in residential neighborhoods influence FOC. In Study 1, we examined how motion-activated, dynamic street lighting and sound may decrease FOC. In Study 2, we applied an adapted 'watching eyes' intervention and examined how it may inadvertently increase FOC in a neighborhood. In Study 1 the intervention did not affect feelings of safety. In Study 2, the 'watching eyes' intervention indirectly increased FOC via feelings of being watched. In the Discussion, we highlight the importance of better understanding the boundary conditions of such environmental interventions. • In two Virtual Reality Experiments we examined how environmental interventions influence Fear of Crime. • In study 1, manipulated lighting and sound did not influence Fear of crime. • In study 2, a Watching-eyes intervention indirectly increased Fear of Crime via feelings of being watched. • Watching-eyes interventions aimed at reducing crime may indirectly increase the Fear of Crime. • Researchers should examine the boundary conditions and potential unintended consequences of environmental interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predominant explanations of the victim-offender overlap tend to focus on shared causes, such as (low) self-control or risky lifestyles. Such explanations bypass the possibility of a causal link between victimization and offending. We draw on evolutionary developmental psychology and criminological research to propose and test the hypothesis that victimization induces what we refer to as a short-term mindset, i.e., an orientation towards the here-and-now at the expense of considering the future, which in turn increases offending. We test this mediation hypothesis using structural equation modeling of longitudinal data from a representative sample of urban youth from the city of Zurich, Switzerland (N = 1675). In line with our preregistered predictions, we find that short-term mindsets mediate the effect of victimization on offending, net of prior levels of offending and short-term mindsets, and other controls. We discuss implications for criminological theory and interventions. • Evidence for a novel causal explanation of the victim-offender overlap. • Victimization may decrease future prospects, thereby increasing short-term mindsets. • Results show victimization is associated with an increase in short-term mindsets. • Increased short-term mindsets mediate the link from victimization to later offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined user engagement with ZeroPhobia, a self-guided app-based virtual reality (VR) Cognitive Behavior Therapy for acrophobia symptoms using cardboard VR viewers. Dutch acrophobic adults (n = 96) completed assessments at baseline and immediately following treatment. Primary outcome measures were the Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ) and the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ). Usage data consisted of number of VR sessions practiced, practice time, and fear ratings directly after practicing. Results show that of the 66 participants who played at least one level, the majority continued to finish all levels, spending on average 24.4 min in VR. Self-reported fear consistently decreased between the start and finish of levels. Post-test AQ scores depended quadratically on time spent in VR. Higher pre-test AQ scores were significantly associated with subjective anxiety after the first level and a reduction of post-test AQ scores, but not with number of sessions, suggesting it might be more beneficial to play one level for a longer time period instead of practicing many VR levels. Results also show an optimum exposure level at which increasing practice time does not result in increased benefit. Self-guided VR acrophobia treatment is effective and leads to consistent reductions in self-reported anxiety both between levels and after treatment. Most participants progressed effectively to the highest self-exposure level, despite the absence of a therapist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]