Psychological proximity and the construal of crime: a commentary on ‘mapping fear of crime as a context-dependent everyday experience that varies in space and time’

Fear of crime is a dynamic psychosocial phenomenon, and sophisticated methodologies are necessary in order to explore its multidimensionality and complexity. The experience sampling method (ESM) that is used by Solymosi and colleagues (2015) is a promising methodological way forward in fear of crime research. While acknowledging the advantages of ESM, in this commentary we discuss a potential disadvantage of the method, namely the possibility that ESM can increase the psychological proximity of crime. Drawing upon construal-level theory of psychological distance, we argue that ESM might sensitize people to think about crime through the lens of personal risk, with a knock-on effect on the construal of crime.