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Gun ownership and fear
Benjamin Dowd-Arrow1, Terrence D Hill2, Amy M Burdette1
1Florida State University, Department of Sociology, Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, 526 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-2270, USA.
SSM - Population Health
|August 16, 2019
Summary
Gun ownership may be linked to reduced fear. This study found gun owners reported fewer phobias and victimization fears compared to non-owners, suggesting a palliative effect.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Criminology
Background:
- Gun ownership and non-ownership create social, cultural, and political divisions.
- It is unclear if these divisions extend to emotional experiences, specifically fear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if gun owners experience different levels of fear compared to non-owners.
- To test the symptom perspective (gun ownership as fear expression) and the palliative perspective (gun ownership as fear mitigation).
Main Methods:
- Analysis of national cross-sectional data from the 2014 Chapman University Survey on American Fears (n=1385).
- Utilized binary logistic regression, ordinary least squares, and negative binomial regression models.
- Controlled for various demographic and socioeconomic factors.
Main Results:
- Minimal support for the symptom perspective; higher odds of gun ownership for those fearing victimization.
- Significant support for the palliative perspective: gun owners reported lower levels of phobias and victimization fears.
- This pattern held across diverse fear indicators and adjusted for numerous covariates.
Conclusions:
- Gun ownership appears to be associated with lower levels of fear and phobias.
- The palliative perspective, suggesting gun ownership mitigates fear, is more strongly supported by the data.
- Further longitudinal research is recommended to confirm these findings.
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