pranks on a college campus: why pranks are perceived differently from crimes tracy krebs and sarah...
Post on 17-Dec-2015
212 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Pranks on a college campus: Why pranks are perceived differently from
crimes
Tracy Krebs and Sarah Opichka
Hanover College
Crime and Pranks
Crime- act forbidden by law (Bennett-Johnson, 1997)
Prank- harmless act of fun (Yoder & Aniakudo, 1996)
Often illegal
Society distinguishes between crimes and pranks
Previous Research
Individuals perceive criminal actions based on the circumstances involved in the crime. (Oliner & Manel, 1973).
Circumstances include: Perception of offender Act itself
Previous Research Cont.
Perceptions of the crime vary depending on how close the victim is to the offender (Situ, 1992)
Prank can be considered an appropriate act if it inspires humor (Yoder & Aniakudo, 1996)
Hypotheses
Crimes that are committed on-campus would be viewed as “pranks” and thus would elicit less of an emotional response (less serious more humorous, less annoyed, less angry) and be viewed as more acceptable than the same crime committed off-campus.
Hypotheses cont.
If the victim was a friend of the offender, the victim would have less of an emotional response and would find the action more acceptable than if the offender was a stranger.
If the action was perceived as having a temporary rather than a permanent effect, the victim would experience less of an emotional response and find the action to be more acceptable.
Method
Participants 135 total participants 102 Hanover and 33 Xavier students 37 males and 98 females
Underclassmen (fresh/soph)- 75 participants Upperclassmen (junior/senior)- 60 participants
Method contd.
Average lived on campus- 4 semesters
58% Greek affiliated
50% of the participants had a family income over $70,000 per year
Materials
Surveys (8 total scenarios) On-campus condition (68 participants) Off-campus condition (67 participants)
Independent variables: Within Subject
Crime (Theft or Vandalism) Offender (Friend or Stranger) Impact (Temporary or Permanent)
Between Subject Location (On/Off-Campus)
Materials cont.
On-Campus Scenario
Imagine your friend took your radio (worth around $50) from your dormitory room on your college campus, but you later found it in his/her dorm room and took it back…
Variables: Friend, Theft, Temporary
Materials cont.
Off-Campus Scenario
Imagine someone you do not know carved pictures with a pocket knife all over the desk (worth around $50) in your room in your house…
Variables: Stranger, Vandalism, Permanent
Materials cont.
Dependent Variables: Serious, Humor, Anger, Annoyed (combined
into emotional reaction) Acceptable (Cognitive reaction) Crime/Prank
Results/Discussion
Mixed Factorial Repeated Measures ANOVA for Emotional Reaction
2 (offender) x 2 (impact) x 2 (type of crime) x 2 (on/off campus)
4 way interaction for emotional response (p<.001)
Negative emotional reaction to all scenarios except actions that were temporary and done by a friend
Exception- Theft committed off-campus
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
On-Friend On-Stranger Off-Friend Off-Stranger
Theft
Vandalism
Emotional
Response Temporary Impact
Permanent Impact
Results/Discussion cont.
Repeated Measures ANOVA for Acceptability
4 way interaction for acceptability of the deviant behavior (p<.001)
Temporary acts committed by friends (especially vandalism) are more acceptable
Exception- Theft committed off-campus not acceptable
0
1
2
3
4
5
On-Friend On-Stranger Off-Friend Off-Stranger
0
1
2
3
4
5
Theft
VandalismCognitive
Response
Permanent Impact
Temporary Impact
Results/Discussion cont.
Nonparametric Cochran’s Q Used to examine whether the situation was
perceived as a crime or prank
Found significance: Cochran’s Q = 347.08, df=7, p<.001
Crime = theft, stranger, permanent Prank = vandalism, friend, temporary
Further Research
Compare different ages (non-college age)
Content of scenarios
Compare students living on-campus to students living off-campus
top related