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PubMed2006

Why do neighbors have different environmental priorities? Analysis of environmental risk perception in a Beirut neighborhood.

Differences in environmental priorities within an urban neighborhood of Beirut are analyzed. The explanatory capabilities of five categories of contextual variables are compared: socioeconomic status, locality, health, behavior, and environmental beliefs. Semi-structured interviews with key individuals in the community and residents were first conducted. Four environmental issues of concern were identified. A survey was carried out to identify the relative priority accorded by respondents to these four issues, and to measure variables likely to explain differences of opinion. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted for each of the four problems. The 99% confidence interval (CI) of the odds ratio (OR) was used as a test of significance. Respondents suffering from a respiratory disease (OR = 6.94, 99%CI = 1.54-31.25), those living in less crowded houses (OR = 4.88, 99%CI = 1.38-17.24), and those not living close to the neighborhood's industrial street (OR=5.26, 99%CI = 1.01-27.78) are significantly more likely to rank poor air quality first. Significant associations are found between poor water quality as first priority and nonpresence of a smoker in the household (OR = 6.12, 99%CI = 1.84-20.32) and perception of water salinity as a problem (OR = 7.46, 99%CI = 1.50-37.03). Males (OR = 6.94, 99%CI = 1.02-47.62) and tenants versus owners (OR = 10.49, 99%CI = 1.36-80.61) are significantly more likely to rank the residential-industrial mix first. Socioeconomic variables retain their explanatory capability in the studied neighborhood, despite relatively small income disparities. Behavioral variables, such as smoking, may be causative factors of priorities. Analyzing relative priorities, rather than "concern" or lack of it, reveals more complex patterns of association. Identifying environmental-perception divide lines can help develop a more inclusive and effective participatory environmental management.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2005

Using eye movements to evaluate effects of driver age on risk perception in a driving simulator.

Novice drivers (16-year-olds with < or = 6 months' driving experience) have the highest crash involvement rates per 100 million vehicle miles (161 million vehicle km). In the past, this was attributed to greater risk taking or poorly developed psychomotor skills. More recently, however, their high crash involvement rate has been hypothesized to be attributable largely to their relative inability to acquire and assess information in inherently risky situations. The current study seeks to evaluate this hypothesis by recording eye movements while 72 participants (24 novice drivers, 24 younger drivers, and 24 older drivers) drove through 16 risky scenarios in an advanced driving simulator. There were significant age-related differences in driver scanning behavior, consistent with the hypothesis that novice drivers' scanning patterns reflect their failure to acquire information about potential risks and their consequent failure to deal with these risks. Actual or potential applications of this research include modification of these scenarios for display on a PC as a basis for a training module that would enable novice drivers to recognize risky scenarios before they encounter them on the road, in the hope of reducing their high fatality rate.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1992

An examination of gender differences in traffic accident risk perception.

Excessively optimistic judgements of driving competency and accident risk have often been implicated in the disproportionate involvement of young males in traffic crashes. In this study, young male and female drivers (ages 18-24) were asked to judge their relative driving safety, skill, and accident likelihood. Comparisons were made using both peers and the average motorist as referent groups. Subjects then rated 15 risky driving behaviors on four dimensions: frequency in everyday driving, seriousness, accident potential, and apprehension likelihood. Self-report driving experience/history data were also collected. Substantial optimism was evident in both sexes, but males tended to be more optimistic, particularly when judging their driving skill. Males were equally optimistic with respect to the two referent groups; females tended to be less optimistic when making comparisons to the average motorist. Males and females held similar perceptions concerning the frequency and accident likelihood of the risky behaviors, but males perceived the behaviors as generally less serious and less likely to results in accidents. Regression analyses showed that considerably more variance in optimism could be explained for males than females. Driving record was the single best predictor of perceived safety; its role, however, was diminished for perceived skill and subjectively estimated accident likelihood.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2003

Factors underlying anxiety in HIV testing: risk perceptions, stigma, and the patient-provider power dynamic.

Client anxiety is often associated with diagnostic testing. In this study, the authors used a grounded theory approach to examine the situational and social factors underlying anxiety associated with HIV testing, analyzing transcripts from semistructured interviews with 39 HIV test recipients in Ontario, Canada (selected based on HIV serostatus, risk experience, geographic region, gender, and number of HIV tests), then integrating emergent themes with existing research literature. Analysis revealed four themes: perceptions of risk and responsibility for health, stigma associated with HIV, the patient-provider power dynamic, and techniques used by test recipients to enhance control in their interactions with providers. Service implications include modifications to information provision during the test session, attention to privacy and anonymity, and sensitivity to patient-provider interactions.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2005

Communicating asset risk: how name recognition and the format of historic volatility information affect risk perception and investment decisions.

An experiment examined how the type and presentation format of information about investment options affected investors' expectations about asset risk, returns, and volatility and how these expectations related to asset choice. Respondents were provided with the names of 16 domestic and foreign investment options, with 10-year historical return information for these options, or with both. Historical returns were presented either as a bar graph of returns per year or as a continuous density distribution. Provision of asset names allowed for the investigation of the mechanisms underlying the home bias in investment choice and other asset familiarity effects. Respondents provided their expectations of future returns, volatility, and expected risk, and indicated the options they would choose to invest in. Expected returns closely resembled historical expected values. Risk and volatility perceptions both varied significantly as a function of the type and format of information, but in different ways. Expected returns and perceived risk, not predicted volatility, predicted portfolio decisions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Risk perception of the "mad cow disease" in France: determinants and consequences.

Since 1996, when bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was assessed as a possible human transmissible disease, a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), French people have entered into a long period of fear and avoidance of beef and bovine byproducts, which produced an unprecedented collapse in the beef market. This article deals with the perceived risk of the "mad cow disease" (MCD) in the French general population. Two surveys were conducted on a representative sample of the adult population, the first one in 2000 during the peak of the crisis and the second one 13 months later in a quieter period. The main assumption we made was that changes in beef consumption are strongly related to the perceived risk of MCD, which we defined as people's cognitive and affective responses to hazard. Our objective was to identify the determinants and consequences of this perceived risk and to compare them in different sociopolitical contexts. The results issued from a bivariate and multivariate analysis show that: (i) the distribution of most of the variables significantly related to the perceived risk identified in the first survey had changed in the second survey, in relation with the reduction of worry and the resumption of national beef consumption; (ii) the propensity for self-protection through avoiding or ceasing beef eating was more related to feelings of worry than to subjective vCJD risk assessments; and (iii) the main determinant of less avoidance to beef products was the preference for beef, a feeling identified prior to emergence of the risk of MCD, remaining unchanged in various contexts.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Environmental contaminants and low-level cancer risks: perceptions and scientific strategies.

Scientific and public perceptions concerning low-level lung cancer risks may vary. Recently the public has been more convinced of causal links between low-level risk agents and cancer, and more interested in prevention of environmental exposures, especially those induced by others. Thus, scientific strategy is partly driven by the public need to resolve issues concerning the importance of low-level exposures and risks. Further, investigators have been challenged intellectually to create methodologies in order to study some of these relationships further, and scientific curiosity has been stimulated by the difficulties of pursuing such investigations. The importance of host characteristics, including the genetic bases of susceptibility, has become a major theme. Likewise, host behaviour has become a potential positive factor (e.g. diet) as well as a negative factor in the risk model for low-level agents. This paper discusses some of the information available on low-level agents and some of the methodological issues involved in studying them. The importance of measuring exposure as well as response is stressed, especially multi-pollutant exposures and interactions with host behaviour.

Asbestos↗
PubMed2006

A heuristics approach to understanding cancer risk perception: contributions from judgment and decision-making research.

BACKGROUND: The likelihood judgments that people make about their risks for cancer have important implications. At the individual level, risk estimates guide protective actions, such as cancer screening. However, at the extremes, exaggerated risk judgments can also lead to anxiety that degrades quality of life or to aggressive self-protective actions that are unwarranted given the objective risks. At the policy level, risk judgments may serve as an indicator of societal perceptions of the "war" against cancer. Using risk judgments, the public expresses its belief about whether we are winning. PURPOSE: We present theoretical perspectives from judgment and decision making, illustrate how they can explain some of the existing empirical findings in the cancer risk literature, and describe additional predictions that have not yet been tested. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we suggest that theories from the judgment and decision-making perspective offer a potentially powerful view for understanding and improving risk judgments for cancer and other diseases.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2001

Risk perception.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Electromagnetic Fields↗
PubMed2003

Societal risk perception of death among workers in a security company in Malaysia.

How people perceive risk influences their behaviour towards these risks. We do not know how workers perceive risk of dying from diseases or accidents. This study was conducted among 198 workers of a security company in Malaysia. The workers were asked to score on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 the perceived risk of death of Malaysians from selected causes of death. The highest perceived risks of death were, in order of ranking, motor vehicle accidents, cancer and diabetes mellitus whereas according to the certified causes of death in Malaysia the highest risks of death among the selected items were cardiovascular disease, cancer and stroke. The difference in perception and mortality data needs be addressed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Resistance of personal risk perceptions to debiasing interventions.

The tendency to believe that one's own risk is less than that of others may reduce interest in health-protective behaviors. This article describes 4 attempts to reduce such optimistic biases. In Study 1, New Jersey residents (N = 222) were provided with lists of risk factors for several health problems. This manipulation was strengthened in Study 2 by presenting risk factors in such a way that participants (164 undergraduates) might see their own standing as inferior to that of others. In Study 3, risk factors were presented one at a time, and participants (190 undergraduates) incorporated them into a mental image of a high-risk individual. Finally, 374 undergraduates in Study 4 generated lists of personal attributes that they believed increased their risk. Optimistic biases were found in each study, but none of the manipulations reduced these biases consistently. In contrast, conditions using opposite manipulations often exacerbated the biases.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2005

Trauma surgery malpractice risk: perception versus reality.

OBJECTIVE: We set out to compare the malpractice lawsuit risk and incidence in trauma surgery, emergency surgery, and elective surgery at a single academic medical center. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND DATA: The perceived increased malpractice risk attributed to trauma patients discourages participation in trauma call panels and may influence career choice of surgeons. When questioned, surgeons cite malpractice risk as a rationale for not providing trauma care. Little data substantiate or refute the perceived high trauma malpractice risk. We hypothesized that the malpractice risk was equivalent between an elective surgical practice and a trauma/emergency practice. METHODS: Three prospectively maintained institutional databases were used to calculate and characterize malpractice incidence and risk: a surgical operation database, a trauma registry, and a risk management/malpractice database. Risk groups were divided into elective general surgery (ELECTIVE), urgent/emergent, nontrauma general surgery (URGENT), and trauma surgery (TRAUMA). Malpractice claims incidence was calculated by dividing the total number of filed lawsuits by the total number of operative procedures over a 12-year period. RESULTS: Over the study period, 62,350 operations were performed. A total of 21 lawsuits were served. Seven were dismissed. Three were granted summary judgments to the defendants. Ten were settled with payments to the plaintiffs. One went to trial and resulted in a jury verdict in favor of the defendants. Total paid liability was 4.7 million dollars(391,667 dollars/year). Total legal defense costs were 1.3 million dollars(108,333 dollars/year). The ratio of lawsuits filed/operations performed and incidence in the 3 groups is as follows: ELECTIVE 14/39,080 (3.0 lawsuits/100,000 procedures/year), URGENT 5/17,958, (2.3 lawsuits/100,000 procedures/year), and TRAUMA 2/5312 (3.1/100,000 procedures/year). During the study period, there were an estimated 49,435 trauma patients evaluated. The incidence of malpractice lawsuits using this denominator is 0.34 lawsuits/100,000 patients/year. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate no increased risk of lawsuit when caring for trauma patients, and the actual risk of a malpractice lawsuit was low.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed1995

Risk perception and communication unplugged: twenty years of process.

Over the past twenty years, risk communication researchers and practitioners have learned some lessons, often at considerable personal price. For the most part, the mistakes that they have made have been natural, even intelligent ones. As a result, the same pitfalls may tempt newcomers to the field. This essay offers a personal (even confessional) history of the field over this period. It identifies a series of developmental stages. Progress through the stages involves consolidating the skills needed to execute it and learning its limitations. Knowing about their existence might speed the learning process and alert one to how much there still is to learn.

Communication↗
PubMed2001

Adolescents and HIV: knowledge, behaviors, influences, and risk perceptions.

Although the rate of progression from HIV to AIDS has slowed, the incidence of HIV infection has continued to rise. Many teenagers are knowledgeable about the risks and consequences of HIV, yet a large percentage do not perceive that they are personally at risk. Gaining insight into the perceptions and factors influencing the behavior of teens is critical in HIV and AIDS prevention. A structured 39-item questionnaire was designed to elicit answers that explored 4 areas: knowledge of HIV and AIDS, reported sexual behavior, perceived susceptibility to HIV, and factors influencing behavior. The mean age of the 78 respondents was 15.9 years. One important finding was that 74% of respondents perceived their knowledge of HIV transmission to be "good," yet only 33% were able to answer all of the 8 test questions in this area correctly. In addition, 80% of those who reported engaging in risky behavior such as multiple sexual partners or having sex without condoms also felt they were not personally at risk for HIV.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Personality correlates of risk perception.

The aim of the present study was to systematically examine the variations of the effects of (1) transitional anxiety states and enduring anxiety dispositions, and (2) worldviews (hierarchic, egalitarian, individualist, and fatalist), as a function of the type of hazard considered. Ten risk factors were identified. Transitional anxiety contributed significantly to the prediction of four of these risk factors. The more anxious the respondents, the higher were their scores for the Common Individual Hazards, Pollutants, and Outdoor Activities factors, and the lower were their scores for the Public Transportation and Energy Production factor. Enduring anxiety contributed significantly to the prediction of the Psychotropic Drugs factor. The more anxious the respondents, the lower were their scores. The four worldview factors contributed significantly to the prediction of three of these risk factors. The more fatalistic the respondents, the lower were their scores for the Pollutants factor, and the higher were their scores for the Public Transportation and Energy Production factor; the more egalitarian the respondents, the higher were their scores for the Pollutants factor; the more hierarchic the respondents, the lower were their scores for the Public Transportation and Energy Production factor; and the more individualistic the respondents, the higher were their scores for the Pollutants and Deviance, Sex, and Addiction factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Reproductive decision making of aunts and uncles of a child with cystic fibrosis: genetic risk perception and attitudes toward carrier identification and prenatal diagnosis.

This paper evaluates the perceived genetic risk, the perceived burden, the impact on reproductive decision making, and the attitudes of aunts and uncles of a child with cystic fibrosis toward carrier identification, prenatal diagnosis, and pregnancy termination. A mailed questionnaire was sent to the aunts and uncles of 32 CF children (1) who attended the Paediatric Department of the University Hospital and (2) whose parents agreed to give the names and addresses of their sibs. The results for the 109 respondents aged less than 40 years are discussed. About one-fourth of them was aware of the "approximate" level of the risk to be a carrier of the CF gene and/or of the risk of having a CF child themselves. Nevertheless the subjective evaluation of the genetic risk has played a part in the reproductive decision-making process of at least 39% of the respondents. About three-fourths would (probably) make use of heterozygote detection and would (probably) ask for prenatal diagnosis should they become pregnant. It is striking that less than half of the group would interrupt the pregnancy should the fetus be affected. The intention to use prenatal diagnosis was significantly correlated with age and educational level while the acceptance of pregnancy interruption was significantly correlated with perceived burden, respondents' age, and health situation of the proband.

Adult↗