Anticipated responses to stalking: Effect of threat and target‐stalker relationship

Abstract

Abstract Antistalking legislation provides a remedy against the harassment of one individual by another; however, there is little understanding of how the community perceives stalking behaviour. This study examined the impact of threat (present absent), and target‐stalker relationship (stranger, acquaintance, former intimate) on female and male participants' beliefs about their likely responses to a heterosexual stalking scenario. Results from 172 community participants showed they would be less likely to be frightened and to call the police when stalked by a former intimate than by a stranger. Females were equally likely to call the police (close to ceiling response) in both threat conditions, whereas males were more likely to contact the police when an explicit threat was present than when it was absent Other affective and behavioural responses confirmed that overall, participants viewed stalking seriously. However, apparent misconceptions about the relative seriousness of different stalking scenarios indicated that community education may be warranted.