Lifestyle and fear of crime in cyberspace (Case study of Semnan city)

Following the emergence of theoretical thoughts on the idea that lifestyle and daily activities have an important impact on the extent of crime, numerous scholars in sociology and criminology have tested this hypothesis. In the same vein, after the Entrance of the concept of "fear of crime" into the field of crime studies, the impact of lifestyle on the fear of crime was also considered. Initially, major investigations in the fear of crime took into account the real space. But after the growth of the cyber field and the enticement of humans, this aspect of life has also been called into question. Thus, research on cybercrime and cyber space today forms one of the most important research topics. Therefore, in this study by using Social Survey method and questionnaire tool, we examine the relationship between lifestyle and daily activity on fear of crime. The sample consisted of 368 residents of Semnan city, selected by multistage sampling method including stratify, cluster and random sampling methods. The results of the research indicate that there is a meaningful relationship between lifestyle of individuals and their activities in cyberspace and social networks on the one hand, and fears of cybercrime on the other. It should be noted that according to the results, not only the amount of negative activities (high-risk behaviors) but also the amount of positive Internet activities (using the Internet and social networks for work and normal activities) have a impact in fear of cybercrime. However, there is not a meaningful relationship between demographic variables (excluding gender) and fear of cybercrime