Risk perception of different societal groups: Australian findings and crossnational comparisons

Beliefs about hazards and subjective evaluations of risky activities and environmental conditions were studied in three countries, employing a quasi-experimental psychometric approach. The recent data collection in Australia continues previous research conducted in Germany and New Zealand. The aim of the project is to analyse the cognitive structure of judgments about the magnitude and the acceptability of risks to which individuals are exposed, to identify the relevance of hazard characteristics, and to compare risk judgments across cultural contexts. This relates to both societal groups and to countries in which risk issues in general, as well as particular types of risk, have different salience. The Australian results-like previous findings from other countries-demonstrate the considerable influence of psychological aspects on judging risks and the societal and cultural determination of risk evaluations. People with a “technological”, “monetarian”, “ecological”, or “feminist” orientation differ considerably in their responses.The findings improve the understanding of individual risk perception and are also valuable for applied tasks, such as improving information and communication about controversial risk issues in society.