The Structure and Correlates of Societal Threat Perceptions: A Network Approach

Authors

  • Linda C. Bomm Orcid
    Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • Gijs Schumacher Orcid
    Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • Frederic Hopp Orcid
    Leibniz Institute for Psychology, Trier, Germany
  • Bert N. Bakker Orcid
    Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Abstract

Societal threats such as climate change, economic crises, and wars shape citizens’ political attitudes and behaviors. Yet, the structure of threat perceptions and their socio-demographic and ideological correlates remain underexplored. Using a six-wave Dutch survey (N = 685) and a network approach, we uncover the complexity of societal threat perceptions. First, we show that societal threat perceptions vary in their interconnectedness, with security threats, such as crime, threats related to asylum seekers, and the war in Ukraine emerging as central nodes. Second, ideology, age, and education are the most relevant variables linked to societal threat perceptions. Third, we replicate the levels and structure of societal threat perceptions over time, highlighting the robustness of our conclusions. Our study’s results indicate that societal threat perceptions form a complex network that replicates over one year. We outline an agenda for the next generation of theorizing on the structure, correlates and stability of societal threat perceptions.