Why do I feel safe when no one else does?

July 26, 2010 4:44 PM

Can anyone point me in the directions of good journal articles, essays, or books about psychological safety?

Specifically, I am interested in the causes of individual differences in perceptions of safety. (Physical, fiscal, emotional, etc.) For example, in an economic down turn why would people in similar financial and employment situations experience greatly significant differences in perceived safety? But, I would also love to hear about great sources about psychological safety in general.

posted by hworth to Human Relations (4 answers total)

Esther Madriz draws on focus groups and in-depth interviews to show the damage that fear can wreak on women of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Although anxiety about crime affects virtually every woman, Madriz shows that race and class position play a role in a woman's sense of vulnerability.

Madriz argues that fear itself is a strong element in keeping women in subservient and self-limiting social positions. "Policing" themselves, they construct a restricted world that leads to positions of even greater subordination: Being a woman means being vulnerable.

Nothing Bad Happens to Good Girls: Fear of Crime in Women's Lives
posted by tantivy at 4:47 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

I don't have a specific article for you, but I just wanted to suggest that you include terms like "risk perception" or "risk tolerance" in your search; in the example you gave risk is the obvious flipside to "safety," and there's quite a bit of research, economic and otherwise, about it.
posted by lettersoflead at 5:33 PM on July 26, 2010

The Gift Of Fear, by Gavin de Becker.
posted by dfriedman at 5:48 PM on July 26, 2010

Seconding "The Gift of Fear". Great book.
posted by mnb64 at 6:02 PM on July 26, 2010