A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective of Drivers of Threat of Victimization Involving Local and International Tertiary Students A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Lin Xiong MSc (Geography), BBus (Management) School of Management College of Business RMIT University October 2011 Statement of Authorship I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of this thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; and, any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged. Lin Xiong October 2011 ii Acknowledgement I would like to express my genuine appreciation and thanks to all who supported and helped me during this journey. Special gratitude is given to my supervisor, Professor Kosmas Smyrnios, for his strong support, encouragement, friendship, caring attitude, and flexibility. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without his guidance and mentoring. His multidisciplinary background, open-door policy, excellent supervisory capabilities, strong methodological skills, wide-reaching knowledge, enthusiasm, and invaluable advice helped me to reach new heights. Not only is he a supervisor, Kos is like a father, a good friend, and a spiritual mentor. I remember all my crocodile’ tears! I am deeply grateful to Dr. Stephanie Smyrnios, senior counsellor, RMIT student services, who sparked my interest in Psychology and encouraged me to attend a range of international conferences, across the fields of applied psychology, forensic psychology, and cross-cultural psychology. I offer my gratitude to Professor Chrisopher Nyland, Monash University, who provided me with valuable resources and insightful advice on international students’ threat of victimization; to Associate Professor Booi Kam, for his support and guidance. Thanks also go to the anonymous reviewers and editors of The Journal of Criminology for their critical comments and recommendations on a manuscript emanating from this thesis. My parents, brother, and lovely niece, for their love, encouragement, and support, particularly my mum who recently suffered a brain thrombus, I thank them sincerely, and to Kun Guo, for his love and support. I thank Scott Williams, who helped me to recruit participants for my research; and my friends, who kept me sane and happy during this PhD process. Special mention is also made to the RMIT International Scholarship Office, for their financial support, in particular, Miss Emily Rose; and to the Research Development Unit, for providing administration and financial support, especially, Ms Prue Lamont. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the 1170 participants who provided their valuable time to complete my questionnaire. iii Publications and Awards Originating from the Present Thesis Published Refereed Conference Proceedings and Abstracts Xiong, L., & Smyrnios, K. X. (2010). Tourists’ Fear of Crime and Its Impact on Future Travel Decisions. Proceedings of 2010 International Conference on Tourism & Hospitality, 5 th June, 2010. Taipei, Taiwan. Xiong, L., & Smyrnios, K. X. (2010). Social, Cultural, and Environmental Drivers of International Students’ Fear of Crime: a Cognitive Behavioral Perspective. Proceedings of the XX th Congress of the International Association for Cross Cultural Psychology, 7-10 July, 2010. Melbourne, Australia. Xiong, L., Stephanie, S., & Smyrnios, K. X. (2010). A comparison of International and Local Students on Fear of External Threats and Fearfulness: A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective. Presented at the 27 th International Congress of Applied Psychology, 11- 16 July, 2010. Melbourne, Australia. Xiong, L. (2010). A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective of Drivers of Fear of Crime involving Local and International Students. Presented at College of Business Inaugural Higher Degree by Research Colloquium 2010, RMIT University. 1 st Sept., 2010. Melbourne, Australia. Xiong, L. (2010). A Comparison between Local and International Students on Their Fear of Crime. Presented at the Australian Psychological Society, College of Forensic Psychologists Student Research Day. 14 th Oct., 2010. Melbourne, Australia. Awards Best research paper and presentation award, College of Forensic Psychologists Student Research Day, the Australian Psychological Society, Oct., 2010, Melbourne, Australia. First Prize of Three Minutes Competition, School of Management, College of Business, RMIT University, June 2010, Melbourne, Australia. Finalist of the overall RMIT University Three Minutes Competition, July 2010, Melbourne, Australia. iv Table of Contents Statement of Authorship ................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................... iii Publications and Awards Originating from the Present Thesis ................................ iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ v List of Tables ................................................................................................................ viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ ix SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION ............................................................ 13 FEAR .......................................................................................................................... 13 COGNITION, EMOTION, AND BEHAVIOR ......................................................... 15 FEAR OF CRIME LEADS TO A CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THREAT OF VICTIMIZATION ...................................................................................................... 16 Definitional Inconsistency ...................................................................................... 17 Conceptual Ambiguity ............................................................................................ 20 Measurement of Fear of Crime ............................................................................... 28 Threat of Victimization .......................................................................................... 34 Summary ................................................................................................................. 36 THEORETICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION ............................................................. 37 Frameworks Adopted in the Fear of Crime Research ............................................ 38 Theoretical Conceptualization Underpinning the Present Thesis........................... 47 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 3 STUDY 1: TERTIARY STUDENTS’ THREAT OF VICTIMIZATION ............... 64 THEORETICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION ............................................................. 66 HYPOTHESIS AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT .................................................... 67 Threat of Victimization .......................................................................................... 69 Personal-related Factors ......................................................................................... 75 Community-related Factors .................................................................................... 81 v METHOD ................................................................................................................... 86 Research Design ..................................................................................................... 86 Participants ............................................................................................................. 86 The Threat of Victimization Questionnaire ............................................................ 88 Data Collection Procedures .................................................................................... 93 Statistical Procedures .............................................................................................. 93 Testing for Common Method Bias ....................................................................... 107 Ethnical Consideration ......................................................................................... 109 Summary ............................................................................................................... 109 RESULTS ................................................................................................................. 110 Stage 1: Data Screening ........................................................................................ 110 Stage 2: Exploratory Factor Analysis ................................................................... 111 Stage 3: Confirmatory Factor Analysis ................................................................ 112 Instrument Validity ..............................................................................................