Individual and Social Perception of Risk

Abstract

The social experience of risk has been the focus of many studies. The perception of risk among the general public is a rather complex phenomenon that cannot be described on the basis of a single theory or model. The major accomplishment in the psychological research was the discovery of the qualitative risk characteristics and the semantic images that serve as heuristic tools for classifying and evaluating risk sources or activities. Sociological research has been essential in pointing out the organizational constraints of risk behavior as well as the mobilization potential of risk issues with respect to the allocation of social resources and the experienced inequities of benefit-risk distributions. The relative weights of these factors in evaluating risks depend on social and cultural factors. In contrast to studies on risk perception and attitudes, behavioral responses to risk have triggered less interest in the research communities despite the fact that the correlation between attitudes and behavior is normally weak. Several recent studies include trust and credibility, social values, and political mobilization as predictors for risk responses. The recently suggested metaphor of social amplification may provide an umbrella to integrate perception and response studies and to improve the predictive capability of social models of risk experience.