Health risk perception in Canada II: Worldviews, attitudes and opinions

Krewski, Daniel; Slovic, Paul; Bartlett, S.; Flynn, James; Mertz, C. K.

doi:10.1080/10807039509380009

Cited by 48 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The ubiquity of risk and its prominence in the public sector has prompted a sustained research effort to understand how people perceive risks. Over the years, a collection of studies [3,4,5,6] has focused on identifying the factors that affect the perception of risk. These studies have consistently demonstrated that public perceptions reflect a vast array of considerations other than the actual risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of the Perception of Health Risks among College Students in China

Zhang

Fan

2013

IJERPH

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The present survey was designed to investigate the perception of health risks among college students in China. The data are the responses of a sample of 3,069 college students at one university to surveys that include measures of several dimensions of public judgments about fifteen specific hazards. Chinese college students conveyed their concerns as falling into three broad categories: Environmental (e.g., global warming, natural catastrophes, the ozone hole, air pollution, chemical pollution, pesticides in food), Technological (e.g., nuclear power stations, thermal power, genetically modified food, medical X-rays), and Social (cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, overtime study or work, mental stress, motor vehicle accidents). The data were collected with a self-report questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to illustrate the levels of perceived risk according to the percent of “high risk” responses as well as the mean response values. Generally, the hazards that were perceived as posing the greatest health risk were those belonging to the social health risks; items related to technology risks received the lowest percentage of “high health risk” rankings. Traditional environmental risks such as natural catastrophes, pollution issues (chemical pollution, air pollution), and pesticides in food were ranked as being relatively high risks. The respondents were less concerned about new emerging issues and long-term environmental risks (global warming). In this survey, motor vehicle accidents were considered to be a “high health risk” by the greatest percentage of respondents. Generally speaking, the female respondents’ degree of recognition of health risks is higher than that of male respondents. Only for the item of smoking was the male respondents’ degree higher than that of females. There is also a geographic imbalance in the health risk perceptions. The degree of recognition of health risks from respondents in municipalities is generally lower than that of respondents from other areas except for items such as natural disasters, smoking, medical X-rays, and mental stress, which are exceptions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of the Perception of Health Risks among College Students in China

Zhang

Fan

2013

IJERPH

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“…In the 1992 Canadian national health risk perception survey (Krewski et al, 1995), it was found that approximately half of respondents adopted a fatalistic worldview, with responses evenly split with respect to agreement with the statement "I have very little control over risks to my health." useful heuristic function in a range of contexts including public health.…”

Section: Heuristics and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaring the Public: Fear Appeal Arguments in Public Health Reasoning

Cummings

2012

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Abstract:The study of threat and fear appeal arguments has given rise to a sizeable literature. Even within a public health context, much is now known about how these arguments work to gain the public's compliance with health recommendations. Notwithstanding this level of interest in, and examination of, these arguments, there is one aspect of these arguments that still remains unexplored. That aspect concerns the heuristic function of these arguments within our thinking about public health problems. Specifically, it is argued that threat and fear appeal arguments serve as valuable shortcuts in our reasoning, particularly when that reasoning is subject to biases that are likely to diminish the effectiveness of public health messages. To this extent, they are rationally warranted argument forms rather than fallacies, as has been their dominant characterization in logic.Key words: argumentum ad baculum; argument; heuristics; public health Resume: L'etude des arguments qui font appel a la menace ou a la peur a donne naissance a une litterature abondante. Meme dans un contexte de sante publique, on sait beaucoup comment employer ces arguments pour persuader le public de se conformer aux recommandations de sante. Malgre ce niveau d'interet pour ces arguments et l'examen de ceux-ci, ils ont un aspect qui reste encore inexplore. Cet aspect concerne la fonction heuristique de ces arguments au sein de notre reflexion sur des problemes de sante publique. Plus precisement, je soutiens que les arguments qui font appel a la menace ou a la peur servent de raccourcis utiles dans nos raisonnements, en particulier lorsque que les raisonnements sont vulnerables a des prejuges qui vont probablement diminuer l'efficacite des messages de sante publique. Dans cette mesure, ces types d'arguments sont plutot rationnellement justifies que fallacieux, comme cela a ete leur caracterisation dominante dans la logique cognitive bias; fallacy; fear appeal © Louise Cummings.

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“…Canadians tended to display fairly high levels of trust in regulators, as the majority of respondents in a 2004 national risk perception survey agreed with the statements that "when there is a really serious health problem, the government will regulate it" (57.7% in agreement) and "government agencies are well qualified to regulate health risks" (56.4% in agreement) (Krewski et al, 2005). Moreover, the Canadian public clearly transfers some degree of control over health risks to professionals, as it was reported that 56.6% of respondents agreed that "decisions about health risks should be left to the experts" and that "government agencies are responsible for controlling my exposure to health risks" (53.9% in agreement) (Krewski et al, 1995a(Krewski et al, , 1995b(Krewski et al, , 2005. Therefore, the majority of the public holds the expectation that government will act to protect the health of Canadians, especially children, through legislation and regulation to minimize detrimental environmental health impacts.…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Studies of risk perception in Canada found high levels of environmental concern and high levels of risk perceived for a variety of chemical exposures (Krewski et al, 1995a(Krewski et al, , 1995b(Krewski et al, , 2005(Krewski et al, , 2006. It is known that factors such as the extent to which the hazard is familiar and voluntary and the amount of scientific understanding surrounding the risk all tend to influence perceptions (Whyte & Burton, 1982;Slovic et al, 1982).…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Regulatory and Nonregulatory Strategies for Improving Children's Environmental Health in Canada

Tyshenko

Benidickson

Turner

et al. 2007

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B

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Epidemiological and toxicological studies established positive associations between environmental hazards and adverse child health outcomes, including cancer, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, developmental effects, low birth weight, and birth defects. The economic and societal costs associated with children's environmental health disorders were estimated to be substantial. The existence of knowledge gaps, lack of capacity, and the jurisdictional overlap of children's environmental health issues are some of the barriers that impede effective policy decision making. To improve children's environmental health and reduce economic and societal costs, current legislative frameworks could implement a series of amendments. The main federal, provincial, and municipal legislation used to protect children in Canada, either explicitly or implicitly, is reviewed. Recommendations for improving the existing framework for protecting and strengthening children's environmental health are proposed.

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Health risk perception in Canada II: Worldviews, attitudes and opinions

Cited by 48 publications

References 9 publications

A Study of the Perception of Health Risks among College Students in China

A Study of the Perception of Health Risks among College Students in China

Scaring the Public: Fear Appeal Arguments in Public Health Reasoning

Regulatory and Nonregulatory Strategies for Improving Children's Environmental Health in Canada

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