Risk Perceptions
People drink alcohol and sunbathe but, at the same time, may be deeply concerned about chemical concentrations that fall well below regulated levels, or about electromagnetic radiation from mobile telephones. Likewise, people who live in areas prone to high risk from natural hazards perceive themselves to be physically closer to the danger zone, and they are more inclined to support and undertake risk mitigation, if they have been previously evacuated ahead of a pending calamity. Meanwhile, other people living at an identical physical distance from the very same danger zones perceive themselves to be farther away, and are less likely to support and implement countermeasures, if they have not been previously evacuated.
Why are people wary of hazards that experts agree do not cause significant harm, but are willing to expose themselves to hazards that result in very large numbers of fatalities every year? Part of the answer comes from the inherent psychological tendencies people carry with them when they evaluate hazards. Another part of the answer can be attributed to the psychological reactions that are invoked by the hazards. Yet another part of the answer comes from the features of the hazards themselves.
So, beyond simply accounting for what people fear, research on risk perceptions is important because it helps us to understand why people fear. This, in turn, has significant implications for risk exposure, risk communication, and risk management.
A current project in my lab focuses on the risk perceptions of people living near a major Superfund site, the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (Rocketdyne) in Ventura County, CA. We’re interested in whether key components of Protection Motivation Theory—namely, coping appraisal and threat appraisal—predict risk perceptions and protective behaviors in affluent communities as reliably as they do in poor and more marginalized communities. A unique aspect of this study is that Rocketdyne is located within one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States whereas most Superfund sites are located in low-income, and predominantly minority or marginalized communities.
