EXPLORING FEAR: HOW STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCE RESPONSES TO FEAR-ELICITING OBJECTS AND SITUATIONS

Abstract

The study aims to explore the intensity of fears associated with various objects and their relationships with specific individual variables. It involved a convenience sample of 328 university students with an average age of 20.9 years (SD = 2.24), of whom 224 (68.3%) were female. Seventy percent of the participants were enrolled in their first or second year of study. A shortened and slightly modified version of the Temple Fear Survey Inventory was administered, which included 35 fear-inducing objects rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Results indicate a statistically significant higher level of overall fear in females. Among the 35 objects or situations, females exhibited statistically significantly stronger fears than males for 30 items. The top three fears for females were not being successful, being physically assaulted, and suffocating, while males ranked not being successful, their social media accounts being hacked, and suffocating as their top fears. Interestingly, the fear of social media account hacking was ranked among the top fears for males but was near the bottom for females, with this fear being more pronounced among Turkish participants compared to their Bosnian counterparts. Additionally, psychology students showed a stronger fear of being alone and of looking foolish compared to non-psychology students. Notably, both fear of death and fear of one’s social media account being hacked loaded onto the same factor, interpreted as "annihilation." These findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theories of fear, highlighting their implications for understanding fear responses among university students.