Seeing is Believing? Comparing Negative Affect, Realism and Presence in Visual Versus Written Guardianship Scenarios

ABSTRACT

We compared participant responses on three written guardianship scenarios versus visualized versions of the same scenarios in terms of realism, presence, negative affect elicited by the situation, perceived risk, and the choice to intervene. We find that people who received the visual scenarios report higher presence, but not realism, than those who received the written version. Furthermore, visual scenarios elicited stronger negative affect and resulted in a lower likelihood to intervene. Finally, presence, but not negative affect, mediated the relation between condition and the choice to intervene. Implications of the visual scenario method for future research are discussed.

Acknowledgment

We extend our sincere gratitude to Justin Karten and Yori van Gerven from Scopic and Malte Huthoff for their invaluable help in creating the materials for this study. We would also like to thank Bert Kops and family from Kops Gym, and Esther and Eline from Hartje Oost for making this project possible.

Notes

¹ This study is based preliminary data from the currently ongoing Visualizing Crime Project, which involves written and visualized scenario versions of the same criminal events. The situations depicted are described/visualized either from the perspective of the offender, that of the victim, or that of an observing bystander.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jean-Louis van Gelder

JEAN-LOUIS VAN GELDER is Full Professor at the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences at the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. His research interests include the application of novel technologies such as virtual reality to criminal decision making research, future selves, and the interplay of cognition and affect in the prediction of criminal choice.

Corinna Martin

CORINNA MARTIN finished her Research Master in Social Psychology at VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her main research interests are the perception of criminal behavior and the influence of interaction on corrupt behavior.

Jan-Willem van Prooijen

MARIJKE MARSMAN obtained her MSc degree in social psychology at the University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. She currently works as a market researcher at Trotta Research.

Reinout de Vries

REINOUT E. DE VRIES is Associate Professor at the Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Full Professor at the Department of Educational Science at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. His main research interests revolve around personality, integrity, leadership, and communication styles.

Marijke Marsman

JAN-WILLEM VAN PROOIJEN is Associate Professor at the Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Senior Researcher at the NSCR. His research focuses on the social injustice, belief in conspiracy theories, and political ideology.

Margit Averdijk

At the time of research, Margit Averdijk worked at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. Her research Interests Include the study of victimization, individuals’ development of violent behavior, crime prevention, and social science methodology.

Danielle Reynald

DANIELLE M. REYNALD is a criminologist at the Griffith Criminology Institute and Senior Lecturer in the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Australia. Her main line of research focuses on guardianship, or how citizens function (or fail to) as effective crime controllers across different contexts, and against various types of crime. Her other related research areas include crime prevention through environmental design and offender decision making.

Tara Donker

TARA DONKER is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands and licensed therapist at a mental health institute (Prezens, Amsterdam). Her research focuses on early intervention and prevention of depression, anxiety and suicide based on innovative technologies such as virtual reality and mobile apps