From the mental health risk communication perspective, excessive fear of crime or deviances and too high risk perceptions in cyber space can be destructive to individuals and bring serious social problems. Using data from ‘Survey on Crime Victimization in Cyberspace,’ the author found that gender differences do exist in the components of the risk perceptions to the threat of victimizations in cyber space. For each of the components of the risk perceptions to threat of victimizations, females scored significantly higher on the components than males. Correlation analysis revealed that women's fear of cyber deviances are more correlated with perceived severity, whereas men's fear of cyber deviances are more correlated with perceived susceptibility. The results suggested that relevant policy interventions differ for males and females. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed especially in the gender sensitivity perspective.
Key words : gender, cyber deviance, risk perception, health communication