# Predicting the Thrill: How Individual and Environmental Factors Shape Thrilling Perceptions of Violent and Non-violent Crime

## TL;DR

This study explores how personal traits and peer influences shape how young people view crime as thrilling, focusing on violent and non-violent offenses.

## Contribution

The study identifies distinct individual and environmental factors that uniquely predict thrilling perceptions of violent versus non-violent crime.

## Key findings

- Peer delinquency, youth offending, and impulsive traits are linked to thrilling perceptions of both violent and non-violent crime.
- Callous-unemotional traits are uniquely associated with thrilling perceptions of violent crime.
- Peer influence on non-violent crime thrill decreases as youth age.

## Abstract

This study longitudinally investigates how individual and environmental factors predict thrilling perceptions of criminal behavior using a sample of 1009 justice-involved youth (ages 15–21) who were followed over 7 years. Mixed effect regression models indicated that peer delinquency, youth offending, and impulsive-irresponsible traits were associated with thrilling perceptions of both violent and non-violent crime. Comparatively, callous-unemotional traits predicted only the thrill of violent crime but not non-violent crime. Additionally, the association between peer delinquency and the thrill of non-violent crime waned as participants aged, suggesting a decreased susceptibility to peer influence over time. These individual differences, paired with these socially transmitted beliefs from peers, highlight how thrilling perceptions of crime may be reinforced by youth’s characteristics or vicariously through their peers. However, while youth may age out of susceptibility to peer influence, these other influences sustained across age. These findings advance our understanding of the persistence and influence of adolescents’ experiences in shaping thrilling perceptions of crime, hinting at potential mechanisms that contribute to antisocial behavior.