10.6084/m9.figshare.4249601.v1
James Gilbert
James
Gilbert
Caroline Uggla
Caroline
Uggla
Ruth Mace
Ruth
Mace
Questionnaire. Questionnaire used to gather individual data from Knowing your neighbourhood: local ecology and personal experience predict neighbourhood perceptions in Belfast, Northern Ireland
The Royal Society
2016
life-history theory
ecological perceptions
mortality risk
morbidity risk
2016-11-23 11:35:43
Journal contribution
https://rs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Questionnaire_Questionnaire_used_to_gather_individual_data_from_Knowing_your_neighbourhood_local_ecology_and_personal_experience_predict_neighbourhood_perceptions_in_Belfast_Northern_Ireland/4249601
Evolutionary theory predicts that humans should adjust their life-history strategies in response to local ecological threats and opportunities in order to maximize their reproductive success. Cues representing threats to individuals' lives and health in modern, Western societies may come in the form of local ages at death, morbidity rate and crime rate in their local area, whereas the adult sex ratio represents a measure of the competition for reproductive partners. These characteristics are believed to have a strong influence over a wide range of behaviours, but whether they are accurately perceived has not been robustly tested. Here, we investigate whether perceptions of four neighbourhood characteristics are accurate across eight neighbourhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We find that median age at death and morbidity rates are accurately perceived, whereas adult sex ratios and crime rates are not. We suggest that both neighbourhood characteristics and personal experiences contribute to the formation of perceptions. This should be considered by researchers looking for associations between area-level factors.