Perception of the Breast Cancer Risk: When Do Overestimations and Unrealistic Optimism Occur Together?

Abstract

The perception of health risks can be biased by overestimations of disease prevalence, by unrealistic optimism about the personal health risk or by other processes. A questionnaire study among 481 women (19–65 years old) confirmed the occurrence of both biases in the perception of the breast cancer risk. Most women and especially relatives of breast cancer patients (N = 94) overestimated the population risk for breast cancer, suggesting the operation of an availability bias. The tendency to perceive one's own breast cancer risk as lower than that of one's peers was significant, indicating the existence of an overall optimistic bias. However, the bias remained absent among relatives of breast cancer patients. The predictors of the operation of the latter bias were investigated, leading to an interesting pattern of relations with control-related variables, the numerical estimation of the population risk for breast cancer and the perceived influence of genetic factors.