Effects of Item Order on the Perceived Seriousness of Crime: A Reexamination

• Published in: The journal of research in crime and delinquency Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 139 - 151
• Main Authors: EVANS, SANDRA S., SCOTT, JOSEPH E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beverly Hills, CA SAGE Publications 01-05-1984; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Crime; Demography; Medical sciences; Morality; Offenses; Perceptions; Property; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Seriousness; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Sociocultural environment; Sociodemographics; Social environment; Human; Justice; Punishment; Demography; Social perception; Motivation; Social interaction; Criminality; Delinquency; Repression; Judgment
• ISSN: 0022-4278; 1552-731X
• DOI: 10.1177/0022427884021002004

This article examines the effects of item order on the perceived seriousness of crime. Previous research that addressed this question rotated only one offense to three locations on a questionnaire and concluded that item order had no effect. This research rotates several offenses, including violent, property, white-collar, and morals offenses. The perceived seriousness of an item was hypothesized to shift toward the severity of the preceding offense. The results substantiate this effect. In fact, item order was found to explain approximately the same amount of variation in the perceived seriousness of an offense as did respondents' demographic characteristics.