Cyber-Harassment Assessment Scale

Fear of Cybercrime in Europe: Examining the Effects of Victimization and Vulnerabilities

“…Gender may be classified as a physical vulnerability factor when looking at fear of crimethe higher levels of fear reported by women reflect their perceptions that they are relatively more vulnerable and thus have more difficulties in coping with the physical and emotional repercussions of an attack. When looking at cybercrime, studies have found that women report higher levels of fear of crimes such as cyber harassment and bullying or online interpersonal victimization, and general concerns regarding hacking, thefts and computer viruses (Alshalan, 2006;Henson, Reyns, & Fisher, 2013;Pereira, Spitzberg, & Matos, 2016;Yu, 2014), but not of online identity theft, computer viruses or online scams (Roberts, Indermaur, & Spiranovic, 2013;Yu, 2014). These results suggest that women are more concerned than men about cybercrime that involves interpersonal contact compared to crimes that are more computer-focused and have no interpersonal component.…”