Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Keywords
fear, worry, anti-Muslim policies, Trump administration, concerns about terrorism
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2378023119856825
Abstract
In the era of 9/11, terrorist attacks occur with sufficient frequency and lethality to constitute a realistic threat to the well-being of the American public. Sensing this concern, politicians emphasize the threat of violent attacks to advance a platform of making public safety a priority. In this context, the authors assess the extent, sources, and emotional impact of the public’s concern about terrorism. On the basis of a national survey of 1,000 Americans, the authors examine levels of fear of a terrorist attack and worry about terrorism relative to other potential harms. They also determine whether concern about terrorism translates into support for homeland security measures that target Muslims. Of the predictors in the authors’ models, gender, religiosity, and psychological distress were most consistently associated with fear of terrorism and worry about being a victim of a terrorist attack. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that terrorism-related fear and worry predict support for anti-Muslim policies.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, v. 5, p. 1-16
Scholar Commons Citation
Haner, Murat; Sloan, Melissa M.; Cullen, Francis T.; Kulig, Teresa C.; and Jonson, Cheryl Lero, "Public Concern about Terrorism: Fear, Worry, and Support for Anti-Muslim Policies" (2019). Criminology Faculty Publications. 17.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cjp_facpub/17
