Poster #111 - From Scale to Street: Capturing Short-Term Mindsets and Their Role in Criminal Behavior

• In Event: ASC Poster Session I

Abstract

What drives individuals to commit crime? Understanding why people engage in crime at specific times requires approaches that capture not just who offends, but when, why, and under what conditions. This poster presents a two-step effort advancing Short-Term Mindsets Theory (STMT) - a framework proposing that crime arises from moment-to-moment shifts in short-term mindsets, defined as the tendency to focus on immediate outcomes. These shifts reflect the interplay between dispositional traits and environmental circumstances, and are shaped by reciprocal relationships with context and behavior over time. First, we introduce the development and validation of a dedicated Short-Term Mindsets Scale, using deductive and inductive methods, including a scoping review, expert input, and psychometric modeling. Second, we outline how this scale will be applied using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)—a method for capturing individuals’ thoughts, contexts, and behaviors in finer temporal resolution within their natural environments. Integrating EMA with STMT enables the investigation of how shifts in short-term mindsets relate to crime-related decision-making. Together, these studies offer a dynamic, ecologically valid lens on crime, with implications for theory development, prediction, and prevention. The poster concludes by highlighting how real-time research will pave the way for future dynamic intervention work.

Authors

• Sera Wiechert, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law

• Willem Frankenhuis, University of Amsterdam / Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law

• Jean-Louis van Gelder, Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law