Relationships between perceived risk of terrorism, fear, and avoidance behaviors among Pakistani university students: A multigroup study

This article investigates the relationships between perceived risk of terrorism, fear of terrorism, and avoidance behaviors among high and low terrorism exposure groups. The two groups consisted of undergraduate business students enrolled in public sector universities in two Pakistani cities, Peshawar and Islamabad. The participants from Peshawar (N =277) comprised the high exposure group whereas the participants from Islamabad (N =259) comprised the low exposure group, based on the level of terrorist activity in the regions. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling. The multigroup analysis indicated that the magnitude of the relationship between fear of terrorism and avoidance behaviors is stronger in the high exposure group than in the low exposure group. However, the findings did not support differences between the effects of perceived risk of terrorism on fear of terrorism and avoidance behaviors. Thus, the assumption that exposure to continuous terrorism is sensitizing was partially supported. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that fear of terrorism can have more detrimental effects on various life activities of individuals who are more vulnerable to terrorism than those who are less vulnerable. A number of practical implications are also discussed.