University of Twente Student Theses
The Impact of Dynamic Guardianship on Perception of Safety: A Gendered Study
Cota, Emira (2025) The Impact of Dynamic Guardianship on Perception of Safety: A Gendered Study.
This is the latest version of this item.
|
PDF
1MB |
| Abstract: | Perception of safety refers to how safe an individual feels in a given environment, especially inside their home. To improve residents’ perceptions of safety, the current study proposes a concept which could be known as dynamic guardianship. Dynamic guardians are Smart Home Devices (SHDs) which activate when someone approaches a property, ultimately giving them the impression that the home is occupied. Although not central in this study, dynamic guardians are thought to potentially deter burglars from invading a home. As research on dynamic guardians is scarce, little is known about whether they can make people feel safer. Moreover, as men and women differ in their levels of perceived safety, it is expected that gender may play a central role on the effectiveness of dynamic guardians. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate whether dynamic guardians (voice-enabled cameras, motion-activated lights and blinds) could increase residents’ perceptions of safety, and whether the increase was lower for women. As well as, whether women noticed dynamic guardians more frequently than men. To test these hypotheses, 101 participants entered a VR residential neighborhood as potential home buyers and were randomly exposed to one of three dynamic guardians. The most noticed SHDs were voice-enabled cameras and motion-activated lights. Dynamic guardians did not improve residents’ perceptions of safety, nor did men and women differ in their safety perceptions before and after being told about SHDs. Lastly, men and women noticed dynamic guardians with equal frequency. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/104931 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page