The role of collective efficacy in shaping behavioral responses to fear of crime

This present work examines functional and dysfunctional behavioral responses to fear of crime through a novel conceptualization of behavior that aims to further elucidate the behavioral component of fear. Two key variables of interest, anxiety and collective efficacy, are operationalized in fresh ways to examine their impact on the functional-dysfunctional continuum. It was hypothesized that anxiety will promote dysfunctional responses while actualized collective efficacy (through an action orientation lens) will promote functional responses. The hierarchical multinomial logistic regression model revealed that anxiety increased the likelihood of behavioral responses along the entire continuum while actualized collective efficacy increased the likelihood of functional responses.