Threat from a distance: More intense threats fade away quicker.

Abstract

People continuously scan their environment for potential threats to ensure survival. To make safe decisions, individuals assess their affective responses at various distances from potential dangers. This evaluation of anticipated feelings informs their decision-making process and subsequent behavior. Threat intensity is a key feature of this assessment. However, there is a lack of consensus on how threat-related anticipated negative affect decreases with distance as a function of threat intensity. Here, we propose the steeper gradient hypothesis: a faster decrease in negative anticipated affective responses with distance for more intense as compared to milder threats. To test this hypothesis, we conducted six experiments in which we examined the interaction effect between threat intensity and distance from the threat on various anticipated affective responses, by using different threats inductions (e.g., level of criminality; Experiments 1-4) and different spatial contexts (e.g., bird's eye views; Experiments 1 and 2). Our results consistently support the steeper gradient hypothesis, regardless of time perspectives (renting an apartment vs. temporarily occupying a spot) or samples (French vs. Americans; convenience vs. selection from a broader national sample). The present contribution, at the intersection of affective, social, and spatial cognition, advances our understanding of how one perceives and anticipates to respond to environmental threats. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).