Perceptions of stalking in Malaysia and England: The influence of perpetrator-target prior relationship and personality

Abstract

Abstract Little work has examined whether culture and personality influence perceptions of stalking behaviour. A fictional stalking scenario was manipulated to assess judgements of case severity, culpability, and consequences for the stalker and target, measured by a five-item Likert scale. Participants were mainly students based in Malaysia (N = 269; 63.9% females) and England (N = 167; 90.4% females). As expected, participants were more likely to judge the stalking as less serious and the victim as more responsible when the stalker was depicted as an ex-partner, as opposed to a stranger or acquaintance. Malaysian participants judged the stalking as less serious and victims as more responsible than their English counterparts, as did male participants. The influence of personality traits was also assessed, using the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised, the Short Dark Triad and the Varieties of Sadistic Tendencies measures. Correlational analyses revealed narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism scores to be negatively associated with perceived severity. Emotionality was negatively associated with perceived victim responsibility while all Dark Tetrad traits were positively associated with perceived victim responsibility. Findings extend literature indicating that a range of factors, both internal and external to the individual observer, contribute to how stalking is perceived.