Many readers will be familiar with the hugely popular debate that went viral last spring, asking TikTok users if they’d rather be left alone in the woods with a man or a bear (#manvsbear, #manorbear, #bearorman). TikTok users were surprised that women overwhelmingly selected the bear over the man. When asked why, users said that bears were likelier to humanize their victims, whereas men were seen as predators unilaterally. The popularity of this debate showcases the need to understand the complex nature of women’s fear of crime. Fear of crime is an important issue to understand as it can have a lasting psychological impact, causing things like stress, worry, and a modification of behaviors.

While women’s chances of victimization are low, their fear of crime is high. The National Crime and Victimization Survey, which surveys a representative sample of Americans about victimization experiences each year, estimates that women have less than a 2% chance of victimization. While women’s chances of victimization are higher with a known partner, their chances of victimization at the hands of a stranger are slim.

The Gallup Poll, a nationally representative non-partisan survey, has measured fear of crime since 1965 and has consistently found that 30% of respondents indicate they are afraid of crime. Further, the most recent Gallup Poll found that women’s fear of crime is at an all-time high, closer to 40%. The survey also found that fear of crime restricted the lives of American women in several ways by limiting women’s willingness to go to crowded events, run alone, talk to strangers, go to shopping malls, or go to parks, especially at night.

Researchers, then, try to understand why women’s fear of crime is high, yet their chances of victimization are low. Vulnerability is a top reason that women say they fear crime, and there are links between feeling vulnerable to victimization and feeling fearful of crime. Most women discuss feelings of physical vulnerability, saying they are afraid of crime because they feel physically unable to fight off an (assumed male stranger-induced) attack. While a valid concern, most women will never experience victimization at all, much less by a stranger.

Researchers also turn to social learning as a key explanation for women’s fear of crime. A famous psychologist, Albert Bandura, was one of the first to note that behaviors are learned through observation and modeled by others. Bandura’s theory is a hallmark for numerous other social learning theorists who note that behavior is learned, often through observation of others (like parents), and reinforced through imitation and interactions.

Parents teach boys and girls different notions of what is safe and what is not. Girls’ behavior is more likely to be restricted than boys’ behavior because parents fear for their safety. As girls grow up, they model their parents’ behavior by believing they should be afraid of crime. If they become parents, they teach, imitate, and model similar behavior. Thus, fear of crime becomes a cycle of crime myths concerning stranger danger for women, passed down from generation to generation until women believe they are likely to be crime victims and act accordingly.

Women’s actions include a litany of precautionary behaviors, most of which are not effective in preventing crimes against women. For example, my research has found that women avoid going places late at night and alone in public spaces (which will not prevent crimes committed by a known attacker). Additionally, women carry or think of objects that might be used to stop a potential stranger attacker, including things like pepper spray, keys, pocket knives, and locks on doors and cars, to name a few. While these behaviors may prevent strangers from attacking in public spaces, they will do little to stop a more typical victimization experience for women (intimate partner violence, as one example). Further, women’s access to public spaces is restricted or completely off-limits.

So, why would women choose a bear over a man in the woods? Well, the simple answer is, why wouldn’t they? In a world where women have been taught that they are unable to prevent victimization unless they restrict their daily lives, have been told they should fear men who are strangers (the man in the woods), and believe that their likelihood of victimization is higher than it is, the bear seems like the most logical option.