Effects of state-level factors on rates of cybercrime perpetration: A partial test of situational action theory

• In Event: Understanding Predictors of Cybercrime Offending

Abstract

Using state-level data, the current study examines direct and moderated effects of macro-social factors on rates of online property crime across the fifty U.S. states. Three key elements of crime, opportunity, motivation, and self-control, are measured by the proportion of internet use, the level of economic inequality and immobility, and the level of cultural tightness and looseness respectively. The present study found that all these three elements were significantly associated with state-level rates of online property crime. As consistent with Wikström’s situational action theory, additionally, it was found that effects of motivation (economic inequality and immobility) on online property crime was moderated by self-control (cultural tightness/looseness). That is, an increase in self-control decreases effects of motivation on online property crime, which is called buffering effects. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Authors

• Hyojong Song, University of South Florida

• John Cochran, University of South Florida

• Michael J. Lynch, University of South Florida