Abstract
Although terrorism poses a very low objective risk of injury or death, more than 40% of Americans fear they will be victims of terrorism (Gallup, 2023. Terrorism. https://news.gallup.com/poll/4909/terrorism-united-states.aspx). Muslims are commonly associated with terrorism in the USA, which leads to Islamophobia, the unreasonable fear of Islam and Muslims. This study tests a comprehensive measure of risk perceptions for terrorism (RPT) while also assessing its relationship with Islamophobia. With data from a nationally representative sample of 512 US adults, structural equation modeling evaluated the psychometric validity of a new RPT measure based on existing risk perception research. Results indicated a good fit for the data, supporting the measure's validity. In addition, there was a significant, positive relationship between RPT and Islamophobia. The study demonstrates that Americans tend to overestimate RPT and that this phenomenon is associated with Islamophobia, which has implications for US foreign and domestic policies, as well as risk communication strategies. Future research should test for a causal relationship between RPT and Islamophobia, which may lead to opportunities to reduce Islamophobia by reducing RPT.