Research in stalking perceptions has shown certain relational biases, in which people tend to view ex-partner stalkers to be less dangerous than stranger or acquaintance stalkers. These findings are in direct contrast to those of real-life cases whereby ex-partner stalkers pose a greater threat. In addition, although stalking is recognized as a global social problem, most studies have been based on samples drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. The current study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and target influences people’s perceptions of stalking and whether cross-national differences exist between participants based in Malaysia (where there is currently no law that criminalizes stalking) and England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects design, 294 Malaysian participants and 170 English participants were presented with a vignette describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants judged the extent to which the perpetrator’s behavior constitutes stalking; necessitates police intervention; would cause the victim alarm or personal distress; would cause the victim to fear the use of violence; and can be attributed to encouragement on the part of the victim. Results showed that typical relational biases existed in both samples, but Malaysian participants were less likely than their English counterparts to label any harassing scenario as serious. Perceptions of victim responsibility were found to mediate the effect of prior relationship and nationality on participants’ perceptions. The findings point to the urgency of better cross-cultural understanding of harassment behavior as well as legislations against stalking.

对缠扰行为认知的研究显示出某些关系偏见，即人们倾向于认为前伴侣缠扰者不如陌生人或熟人缠扰者危险。这些发现与现实生活中的案例形成鲜明对比，在这些案例中，前伴侣缠扰者构成了更大的威胁。此外，虽然缠扰行为被认为是一个全球性的社会问题，但大多数研究都是基于从西方、受过教育的、工业化的、富裕的和民主的国家抽取的样本。目前的研究调查了缠扰行为者与目标之间的先前关系是否会影响人们对缠扰行为的看法，以及马来西亚（目前没有法律将缠扰行为定为犯罪）和英格兰（缠扰行为已被取缔）的参与者之间是否存在跨国差异自 1997 年以来）。在 3 × 2 的受试者间设计中，向 294 名马来西亚参与者和 170 名英国参与者展示了一个描述跟踪场景的小插图，其中肇事者被描绘成陌生人、熟人或前伴侣。参与者判断行为人的行为在多大程度上构成缠扰行为；需要警方介入；会引起受害人惊慌或个人痛苦；会使受害人害怕使用暴力；并且可以归因于受害者的鼓励。结果表明，典型的关系偏见存在于两个样本中，但马来西亚参与者比英国参与者更不可能将任何骚扰场景标记为严重。发现对受害者责任的看法可以调节先前关系和国籍对参与者看法的影响。