The Perception of Environmental Risks among Ethnically Diverse Groups

Social science theories and empirical data on perceptions of environmental risk have focused almost exclusively on factors related to frequently occurring disagreements between the lay population and technical experts. Discussions of variability within the nonexpert population itself are uncommon, even though theories of risk and culture, as well as empirical evidence, suggest that significant differences in judgments may occur within a diverse population such as that in the United States. Perceptions of risk are influenced, in part, by characteristic ways in which situations of uncertainty are framed and interpreted. Because culturally based attitudes and values can influence general orientation toward risk and uncertainty, it is reasonable to expect that factors differentiating individuals on the basis of shared experiences, values, and beliefs relevant to risk evaluation will be associated with nonequivalent perceptions in many situations. One such variable, ethnicity, is examined for its association with variability in perceptions of environmental risk. The authors review available evidence indicating when ethnic differences in risk perceptions have been observed, and consider three hypotheses that could explain why ethnicity would be predictive of dissimilarities in judgments for many environmental risks. Possible explanations for an ethnicity effect include differences in prior experiences with or exposure to various hazards, dissimilar general beliefs about risk and uncertainty, and differences on various qualitative dimensions that influence nonexpert assessments of risk.