It seems that repeat crime victims are less likely to offer their cooperation to the police than victims who were victimized only once. This dissertation seeks to understand why this may be the... Show moreIt seems that repeat crime victims are less likely to offer their cooperation to the police than victims who were victimized only once. This dissertation seeks to understand why this may be the case and examines what crime victims value in their contact with the police. The findings reveal that crime victims are not only interested in a fair treatment, but also in investigative activities that the police may perform to solve their case. Both are important to them, because it makes them feel that they and their case are being taken seriously. Evaluations of the police response have important consequences for both perceived police legitimacy and willingness to cooperate with the police. Negative evaluations of the police response, particularly concerning a lack of investigation activities, could have detrimental effects. This applies especially to victims of violent crimes that know their offender. As a consequence, some of them may not only become reluctant to cooperate with the police, but also develop feelings of vigilantism. To prevent repeat crime victims from evading the criminal justice system it is, therefore, of utmost importance that the police avoids negative evaluations as much as possible. Show less
The research considers structures and practices of regulatory inspections and enforcement, and particularly the relevance and effects of purported “smarter inspections” methods, e.g. risk... Show more The research considers structures and practices of regulatory inspections and enforcement, and particularly the relevance and effects of purported “smarter inspections” methods, e.g. risk-based ones, and how they compare with previously existing practices. Specifically, it considers efficiency and effectiveness of inspections in terms of achieving public welfare, and their economic impact. The first part considers the history of regulatory inspections and how specific inspection institutions started to appear from the 19th century onwards. Of particular interest is how path dependency resulted in important differences in structures and methods between different fields and countries, and how these in turn produced different effects for the public. The second part looks at existing research on the interconnected issues of regulatory compliance drivers, regulatory discretion and risk and regulation. It concludes to the importance of combining several compliance drivers to achieve better results, to the appropriateness of structuring discretion in inspections and enforcement, and to the adequacy of “risk” as an instrument to do so. The third part looks at several case studies (in particular occupational safety and health in Britain and Germany) to consider whether risk-based, ‘smart’ approaches effectively deliver better results with lower burden, and tentatively concludes to the affirmative. Show less
The thesis examines what factors contribute to perceiving political authorities as legitimate by individuals socialized in different political regimes. Using experimental vignettes and original... Show moreThe thesis examines what factors contribute to perceiving political authorities as legitimate by individuals socialized in different political regimes. Using experimental vignettes and original survey data, the thesis investigates to what extent normative qualities of political authorities play a role in citizens’ evaluations of these authorities. It challenges the claim that citizens in non-democratic regimes have unique or special expectations about political authorities. It does so by comparing the factors influencing perceived legitimacy of governments in different political regimes: two post-Soviet non-democracies (Russia and Ukraine) and old and new democracies in Europe (France, Netherlands, and Poland). The findings in all five countries support the theoretical model of a citizen who is concerned with both her personal material well-being and the fairness of authorities. The factor that had the largest positive effect on perceived legitimacy across countries was distributive justice—fairness in providing goods and services across the individuals in a society. Furthermore, respondents’ beliefs about what makes political authorities legitimate were similar across regimes and suggest that for evaluating legitimacy, the output aspects of governing (e.g. welfare, order, and stability) are less important than the input (e.g. elections, trust, representation) and throughput aspects (e.g. fair procedures,transparency, and integrity of authorities). Show less
Unfairness increases noise annoyance. Noise annoyance increases due to unfair sound management. Fair sound management reduces annoyance, however only when the sound pressure level is high,... Show moreUnfairness increases noise annoyance. Noise annoyance increases due to unfair sound management. Fair sound management reduces annoyance, however only when the sound pressure level is high, concludes Eveline Maris based on two laboratory experiments.Being exposed to man-made sound is more than mere exposure: it is a social experience, too: You expose Me. This social hypothesis of noise annoyance has been confirmed in two laboratory experiments. Participants were exposed to aircraft noise (sound pressure level (SPL): 50 or 70 dB A) and treated either in a neutral, fair, or unfair manner. The results show that besides SPL, also the fairness of the procedure determines the level of noise annoyance. The first experiment shows an interaction effect of procedural fairness and SPL: annoyance ratings are significantly lower in the fair than in the neutral condition, but the effect is found only when SPL is 70 dB. The second experiment shows a main effect of procedural unfairness on noise annoyance: annoyance ratings are significantly higher in the unfair than in the neutral conditions, regardless of SPL.The findings imply that, in addition to noise reduction engineering, application of knowledge on the social side of noise annoyance can help reduce future noise annoyance levels. Show less
The present thesis focuses on the causal role of the people's relationship to the authority in reactions to allocation decisions. A series of experiments investigating the effects of the authority... Show moreThe present thesis focuses on the causal role of the people's relationship to the authority in reactions to allocation decisions. A series of experiments investigating the effects of the authority's group membership on reactions to allocation decisions are reported. In addition, psychological processes that may contribute to differences in responses to ingroup versus outgroup authorities' decisions are examined. Because resource allocations across group boundaries may be particularly challenging for authorities, and because the psychological processes guiding reactions to outgroup authorities' decisions have received very little attention, a primary aim is to examine the psychology of reactions to outgroup authorities' decisions. Results demonstrate that people react more strongly to the favourability of procedures and outcomes when the authority is from an outgroup (vs. ingroup). By contrast, people generally react more strongly to the fairness of procedures when the authority is from an ingroup (vs. outgroup). Notably, direct activation of relational (ingroup) versus instrumental (outgroup) concerns produces the same response patterns as manipulating the authority's group membership. Results further suggest that responses to outgroup authorities' decisions in part can be explained by expectations that the authority is biased of members of his/her own group Show less
