Influence of Behavioral Biases on Security Perception: The Role of Internet and Social Media

The present work investigates the phenomenon of the security perception gap, where public perceptions of crime trends diverge from actual statistical trends in reported crime levels. Despite decreasing crime rates in many countries, significant portions of the population perceive an increase in insecurity. Initial research on this topic, primarily conducted in North America and the UK, reveals a consistent misperception of rising crime rates despite stable or decreasing statistics (Duffy et al.,2008; Mohan et al., 2011). The analysis provides a theoretical foundation of the phenomenon, discussing economic models of criminality and behavioral biases that shape crime perceptions. The aim of the work is to identify trough an empirical analysis, based on data form the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 9, the impact of behavioral biases on perceptions of security, using various models to assess feelings of safety, trust in the police and legal system. Focusing specifically on the hypothesis that the use of internet and social media as substitutes for traditional media should amplify perception biases related to the level of security. Findings indicate that internet use and political engagement on social media positively influence feelings of safety, whereas watching, reading or listening to news about politics and current affairs has the opposite effect.