Lifestyles,and Risk Perception Consumer Behavior

In this article, the concept of lifestyle is traced to its early roots in personality psychology and in marketing. In the latter field, many commercial marketing firms have made strong claims as to the explanatory power of lifestyle dimensions, often based on procedures which have been kept secret, but researchers have seldom been able to verify such claims. In spite of this, the approach is very popular, has wide credibility and is often given very favorable media coverage. Probably because of this, it is often considered as a very important and promising approach by administrators working with the regulation of risk and risk communication. It may also be credible in some quarters because it affords a way of ‘explaining’ risk perception as being non-rational. In this paper, we give results from an empirical study of nuclear waste risk perception which is related to a basic risk perception model and three approaches to lifestyles: Kahle's List of Values, a Swedish adaptation of the ‘Agoramétrie’ approach suggested by a group of French researchers, and Dake and Wildavsky's Cultural Theory dimensions. It was found that nuclear waste risk perception could be modeled successfully with risk attitudes and perception data (basic model about 65% of the variance explained), but that lifestyle dimensions added virtually nothing to the explanatory power of the model. Lifestyle dimensions in isolation only explained a minor part of the variance.     

Environmental Risk Exposure,Risk Perception,Political Ideology and Support for Climate Policy

The degree to which risk perceptions are socially constructed versus the result of actual exposure to risk is highly contested; how risk exposure and risk perception influence policy attitudes is also poorly understood. We examine how personal exposure to risk factors impacts risk perceptions and policy support related to air pollution and climate change. Our selection of risk exposure variables is informed by the “mental models” literature, and we employ an array of variables to capture subjective risk perceptions using novel survey data. We find that exposure to risk does little to predict risk perception and has a small influence on policy support. Overall, our findings lend support to a constructionist understanding of risk perception and support for policies related to environmental risks.     

Hypersexual Behavior and HIV Sex Risk among Young Gay and Bisexual Men

Hypersexual behavior has been identified as a sexual risk correlate among gay and bisexual men (GBM). The Hypersexual Behavior Inventory (HBI) has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of hypersexual behavior in clinical populations, yet it has not been used to assess hypersexual behavior in nonclinical samples. We examined the psychometric properties of the HBI with survey data recorded between December 2009 and March 2010 in a sample of young men (N = 366, M = 21.46 years old, SD = 1.95) who self-identified as gay (89%) or bisexual (11%) and assessed its association with unprotected receptive anal intercourse (URAI) partners and occasions. Using cross-sectional data of single, sexually active young GBM (YGBM), we used confirmatory factor analyses to test the HBI's three-factor structure. Using negative binomial regressions, we then tested the association between the HBI subscales and sexual risk. After accounting for covariates, we found that sexual control was a risk factor for URAI partners and occasions, and coping was found to be a protective factor for URAI occasions. In light of our findings, we discuss the importance of reexamining the theoretical assumptions of hypersexual behavior and propose HIV prevention strategies that may reduce young GBM's vulnerability to HIV infection.     

环境知识、风险感知与青年环境友好行为

基于2013年中国综合社会调查数据,对青年环境友好行为的影响因素的分析发现,环境知识水平和风险感知对青年环境友好行为有积极的影响,但环境知识水平和环境风险感知对青年环境友好行为有积极促进作用,这种作用部分受到社会人口学特征变量的抑制。同时,青年私人领域环境友好行为和青年公共领域环境友好行为的影响因素存在较大差异,青年私人领域环境友好行为受到阅历、经济基础和风险感知的影响,公共领域环境友好行为与"人的现代化"程度有关。     

HIV/AIDS Knowledge Sources and Risk Behavior among Adolescent African American Males: Toward Developing HIV/AIDS Pedagogy

Black male adolescent HIV incidence and prevalence account for a disproportionate number of AIDS cases. Their cultural experiences are significantly different than other sectors of the U.S. population. Among adolescents, they constitute 37 percent of the cases, which is more than double their representation in the general adolescent population. The authors ask where do African American males receive information about HIV/ AIDS.     

Risk Perception in Gambling: A Systematic Review

Perception of the consequences of risk affects motivation and behaviour. In gambling, distorted expectations and preferences towards outcomes are associated with significant social and clinical harms. A systematic review was conducted to examine the relationship between gambling risk perception and behaviour. Sixteen studies met inclusion criteria. Studies provided evidence that disordered gamblers hold both more optimistic overall perceptions of risk, and a mixture of more positive and more negative specific outcome expectations. Preliminary evidence suggests a range of contextual and individual differences moderate risk perception affecting decision-making. Disordered gamblers appear to sustain motivation to gamble, despite more negative expectations and experiences, via cognitive processes that result in preferential emphasis on positive over negative outcomes. Given potential differences in the perception of risk between various categories of gamblers, clinicians should take into account how gamblers in treatment view gambling as a risky behaviour. Improving the accuracy of such perceptions may reduce the propensity for risk-taking behaviours.     

Condoms and Connection: Parents,Gay and Bisexual Youth,and HIV Risk

The family has long been considered a powerful influence on youth's high‐risk behaviors. However, little is known about preventive family influences for gay and bisexual youth, a group at high risk for HIV infection. For this study, qualitative interviews from a sample of 38 gay and bisexual youth and their parents/guardians underwent a thematic analysis. Youth described parent–child closeness, parental warnings, and urgings to use condoms as influences. Youth denying family influence came from families in which parent–child relationships were disrupted or HIV‐related discussion was lacking. Most families reported discomfort discussing HIV risk. These findings, along with a case example, suggest how family therapists can enhance parental influence by helping these families strengthen their relationships and discuss this important topic. Video Abstract     

The Politics of Invasive Weed Management: Gender,Race, and Risk Perception in Rural California*

Abstract “Biological invasions” are now recognized as the cause of significant ecological and economic damage. They also raise a series of less visible social issues. Management of invasive species is often a political process raising questions such as who decides which organisms are to be managed, and who benefits or is affected by different management techniques. In a rural region of northern California, the proposed use of herbicides on spotted knapweed sparked an intense social controversy. This research uses participant observation, interviews, and archival material to understand how members of the Karuk Tribe of California, the non‐Indian community, and the U.S. Forest Service developed different perceptions of safety and risk regarding herbicide use. I describe interconnected factors that frame the interpretation of risk: institutional trust, proximity to exposure, gender, and race. Gender and race, in turn, form the basis of anti‐herbicide mobilization. The larger sociological question highlighted is, who pays the price for species invasions? Use of herbicides on invasive species is increasing. Many people who face increased exposure to herbicides are members of racial minority groups. When the poor or racial minorities face disproportionate exposure, differences in risk perception become matters of environmental justice. This paper discusses the broader social implications of differences in risk perception among communities and land managers.     

社会经济地位与都市青年风险感知

现代化城市的发展伴随着社会风险增长,而新冠肺炎疫情的发生使得社会风险研究重要性更加凸显,其中,社会风险感知对风险防范至关重要。运用SUNS数据分析都市青年对各类社会风险的感知状况,探讨社会经济地位在其中的作用。研究发现,青年对环境污染、食品安全和转基因食品风险感知程度位居前列,对于流行性疾病风险感知位列第四;社会经济地位对关注度高的风险类型呈现正效应,即社会经济地位水平越高越增加对环境污染、食品安全和转基因食品风险感知的程度;在媒介关注度高的社会风险类型中,高社会经济地位的群体风险感知度高。因此,都市青年对不同类型社会风险的感知呈现差异,社会经济地位的效应也有区别,但各阶层都不能降低对风险的合理感知度。     

Women,Economic Development,and HIV/AIDS: Transforming Systems of Care for Sustainable Change

ABSTRACT

In this concept article, the authors utilize Maslow's Hierarchy to define and discuss a proposed conceptual treatment framework that includes economic development efforts with examples of successes that have been demonstrated in the literature. The authors posit that HIV/AIDS treatment practitioners should not overlook the interconnectedness and interdependency of economic equilibrium and public health and suggest that the creation of treatment plans based on multi-dimensional interdisciplinary approaches are necessary to achieve maximum benefit for care and resource dollars.     

The Social Construction of Fat: Care and Control in the Public Concern for Healthy Behaviour

Especially during the last decade populations of modern affluent societies are warned by scientist, politicians, media and interest groups that there is an obesity epidemic. Being overweight is now not only culturally condemned, but also medically and politically defined as a major public health threat. This article presents three lines of critique which is offered against this dominant public perception. Some argue that we need to change our attitude to fat irrespective of the medical truth. Others agree there is a problem, but they disagree with the analysis and therefore offer other solutions. Most fundamental is the kind of critique that starts with the question ‘But is it true?’ This question leads to three major conclusions. First, it turns out that the medical science is flawed, one‐sided and contradicted. Second, because there are no effective therapies, present policies produce major negative side‐effects. And third, these policies produce and legitimize discriminatory practices. A general conclusion which can be drawn from this critical literature is that the present risk discourse on fat has much more to do with social and cultural issues like power, blame and control than with health problems.     

Migration,Poverty, and Risk of HIV Infection: An Application of Social Capital Theory

A majority of current HIV/AIDS interventions are designed primarily after individual-based public health models and pay little attention to the socioeconomic environment in which HIV transmission occurs. This article focuses on outlining how migration acts as a conduit for disease transmission in South Africa and then proposes a macro-level prevention model based on social capital theory, thus then supplementing current prevention literature. It is based on the argument that social disruption and stresses from migration lead to sexual interactions during the migration periods that amplify the risk of HIV transmission among migrants.     

Female Tourists, Casual Sex, and HIV Risk in Costa Rica

This paper describes the involvement of young female tourists who visit rural Costa Rica with gringueros (i.e., local men who actively seek relationships with foreign women), and explores the implications of these relations, which gringueros see as outlets for sexual adventure, for sexual behaviors that could contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The findings highlight the need to use tourism-related locales to implement HIV/AIDS awareness strategies targeted at women tourists, gringueros, and other local youth.

Heart Disease Risk Perception in College Men and Women

Abstract

The authors sought to assess the perception of risks for coronary heart disease (CHD) in college men and women. They surveyed 470 undergraduates from 2 major 4-year institutions who completed a questionnaire that measured perceived risks for heart disease. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents rated their risks as lower or much lower than those of their peers, indicating a clear optimistic bias. The research also revealed that the students who exercised regularly rated their risk of coronary disease lower than those who did not do so. In addition, women perceived a number of risk markers to be more potent or causative factors than men did. A significant number of participants did not comprehend commonly understood causal relationships associated with heart disease risk. The findings in this preliminary investigation suggest that college men and women do not accurately perceive their risks for developing heart disease.     

New Drugs and HIV Risk Taking

Abstract

Many workers in HIV-prevention and mental health have feared that publicity surrounding new drugs for treating HIV would cause HIV-negative gay men to lapse from safer sex. However, a recent informal survey of health workers and therapists in New York City suggests that although information about the new drugs has shifted the thinking of many negative men, it hasn't changed their behavior a great deal as yet. Anecdotal evidence of minor behavior change is described, along with medical data concerning how dangerous unsafe sex with an infected person undergoing combination drug therapy may be.     

Perception of alcoholism among Jewish, Moslem and Christian teachers in Israel.

This article describes a survey which investigated perception of alcoholism among Jewish, Moslem and Christian teachers in the north of Israel during the spring of 1991. Data were obtained from a sample of 553 teachers. The teachers were asked to agree or disagree with items associated with the disease concept or with the moral concept of alcoholism. The findings indicate differences in the perception of alcoholism among teachers of different religions, education levels, gender, and drinking practices. No differences were found among teachers of different ages or among those working in different types of schools.