The threat of violent harm is persistent for many residents of high-crime areas. How people perceive such potential threats may increase stress and shape risky decision-making, contributing to social and economic hardship. Psychosocial resources (e.g., social support, self-worth) provide the means to cope with perceived threats, which may affect how one perceives a range of uncertain situations. Using degraded visual displays of menacing human figures, we show that people with fewer resources may exaggerate potential danger when making perceptual judgments. Conversely, people who feel equipped to take on stressful, ambiguous situations may be less likely to perceive potential threats in an exaggerated fashion.
Four studies tested whether resources influence perceptual sensitivity to angry human figures. Fearful participants with either depleted, boosted, or unchanged psychosocial resources judged the presence or absence of moving figures expressing one of five emotions - angry, happy, sad, fearful, or neutral. Overall, fearful participants were more likely than controls to perceive an angry figure when in fact none was present. Psychosocial resources, however, moderated the relationship between fear and impaired detection of angry figures.
These findings could provide additional insight into how constant stress influences everyday yet risky decisions. For instance, a lasting distortion of threat perception (i.e., paranoia or insecurity) might in turn exaggerate perceptions of risk, with significant implications for health-related behavior and decision-making. Another harmful effect might be to interfere with the ability to develop social capital. However, psychosocial resources may contribute to improved social and economic outcomes by moderating exaggerated threat perception.