Differentiating threat perception, worry, and issue salience – A validity assessment

Societal threat perception, worry, and issue salience are central to research in psychology and political science. Yet, their construct and predictive validity remain underexamined. This study addresses whether these constructs are distinct and whether they yield consistent conclusions about political ideology. Using data from a diverse Dutch sample (N = 1863), we first assessed construct validity by comparing self-reported threat perception, worry, and issue salience across twelve societal issues. Results show that threat perception and worry reflect the same underlying construct, distinct from salience, as citizens find issues more important than threatening or worrying. Second, we evaluated predictive validity by analyzing associations with right-wing ideology. Threat perception and worry correlated similarly with ideology, whereas issue salience often overestimated this relationship (Type M error) but rarely reversed its direction (Type S error). These findings clarify the unique roles of threat perception, worry, and issue salience, offering a validated framework for future research on the threat-politics nexus.