Better Negative than Positive? Evidence of a Bias for Negative Information about Possible Health Dangers

Do the results of a scientific study influence confidence in the study's validity and the magnitude of change in the resulting perceived danger of the health risk investigated? Findings from the three investigations reported here indicate that scientific results that confirm a danger (negative results) do affect confidence in a study's validity and resulting risk assessments differently than results indicating low risk (positive results). Findings of Study 1 revealed that research results indicating a health risk were more trusted than results indicating little health risk. This effect was independent of the credibility of the information source. Study 2 demonstrated that confidence in research results increased with an increasing indication of health risk. Study 3 showed that people have more confidence in the results of animal tests on a food additive indicating negative human health effects than in animal tests indicating that a food additive is harmless. The findings have important practical implications. The observed asymmetry between positive and negative research results may be one reason that people are afraid of many of the hazards they are faced with in modern society.     

Trust in Risky Messages: The Role of Prior Attitudes

Risk perception researchers have observed a "negativity bias" for hazard-related information. Messages indicating the presence of risk seem to be trusted more than messages indicating the absence of risk, and risk perceptions seem more affected by negative than positive information. Two experiments were conducted to examine alternative explanations of this finding within the area of food additives. Study 1 (N = 235) extended earlier work by (a) unconfounding message valence (positive or negative) from message extremity (definite or null finding) and (b) exploring the role of prior attitudes. Results suggested that negative/risky messages were indeed trusted more even when extremity was taken into account. However, prior attitudes significantly moderated the effect of message valence on trust. Positive messages were distrusted only by those with negative prior attitudes. Study 2 (N = 252), further explored the role of prior attitudes and extended the work by examining reactions to risky messages about a positively viewed additive--a vitamin. The results again found a moderating effect of prior attitudes on message valence. Participants had greater confidence in messages that were more congruent with their prior attitudes, irrespective of valence. Furthermore, positive messages had a greater impact on risk perception than negative messages. These findings suggest that greater trust in negative messages about hazards may be a product of a "confirmatory" rather than a "negativity" bias.     

Trust in the Safety of Tourist Destinations: Hard to Gain,Easy to Lose? New Insights on the Asymmetry Principle

According to the asymmetry principle of trust, negative events decrease trust to a much higher extent than positive events increase trust. The study at hand intended to verify whether this notion of asymmetry holds true with respect to trust in the safety of tourist destinations. Thus, in contrast to previous research that analyzed trust asymmetry in the context of involuntary technological risks, the present study evaluates the validity of the asymmetry principle of trust in the context of voluntary tourism risks. The hypothesis that negative or risky information on destination safety (absence of proper safety measures and conditions) has a higher impact on distrust than, conversely, positive or nonrisk information on destination safety (provision of proper safety measures and conditions) has on trust was tested in an online survey ( N = 640). In contrast to the asymmetry pattern found by Slovic (1993) , results of the current work suggest symmetry rather than asymmetry of trust. The presence of proper safety measures and conditions (positive or nonrisk information) was found to have at least the same—and in some cases an even higher—impact on trust than the absence of such measures and conditions (negative or risky information) had on distrust. Findings provide empirical evidence for the thesis that the prevalence of trust asymmetry is dependent on the risk source and demonstrate that trust is symmetric rather than asymmetric in the context of voluntary tourism risks. Furthermore, results imply an influence of positive versus negative expectations as well as of prior trusting relationships on the occurrence of the asymmetry principle.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewes: Ester van der Voet, Jeroen B. Guinee, and Helias A Udo de Haes, Heavy Metals: A Problem Solved? Methods and Models to Evaluate Policy Strategies for Heavy Metals Charles N. Haas, Joan B. Rose, and Charles P. Gerba, Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Felix Redmill and Tom Anderson, (eds.) Aspects of Safety Management     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Ragnar Lofstedt and Lynn Frewer, eds., The Earthscan Reader in Risk & Modern Society
Charles Vincent and Bas De Mol, eds. Pergamon Press, Amsterdam, 2000 Safety in Medicine
Hans Marquardt, Siegfried Schafer, Rodger McClellan, and Frank Welsch, eds., Toxicology     

Public Perceptions of Everyday Food Hazards: A Psychometric Study

In this paper, we discuss the conduct and results of a study aimed at eliciting public perceptions of food-related hazards. This study employs the psychometric approach of Paul Slovic and colleagues and aims to extend the recent work of Sparks and Shepherd⁽¹⁾ on defining the primary dimensions of food-related risk perceptions. The study surveyed a nationally representative sample of the general public (respondents = 293; adjusted response rate = 30.1%). Respondents provided ratings on subsets of 22 potential food hazards (e.g., food irradiation and presence of listeria) on a total of 19 risk characteristics (e.g., "perceived severity of risk" and "adequacy of governmental regulations"). In spite of the use of a number of new characteristics and food hazards, Principal Components Analysis revealed a broadly similar factor structure to that obtained by Sparks and Shepherd,⁽¹⁾ suggesting the generalizability of the key dimensions (concerning the severity and awareness of hazards). Interestingly, the positioning in the factor space of potential hazards about which little was generally known (e.g., campylobacter) as being serious and in need of regulation, may suggest a possible "starting position" in the perception of new hazards that have not previously been the subject of risk communications.     

Socioeconomic Determinants of Health- and Food Safety-Related Risk Perceptions

Individual and societal perceptions of food-related health risks are multidimensional and complex. Social, political, psychological, and economic factors interact with technological factors and affect perceptions in complex ways. Previous research found that the significant determinants of risk perceptions include socioeconomic and behavioral variables. Most of these past results are based on two-way comparisons and factor analysis. The objective of this study was to analyze the significance of socioeconomic determinants of risk perceptions concerning health and food safety. A multivariate approach was used and the results were compared with earlier bivariate results to determine which socioeconomic predictors were robust across methods. There were two major findings in this study. The first was that the results in the multivariate models were generally consistent with earlier bivariate analysis. That is, variables such as household income, number of children, gender, age, and voting preferences were strong predictors of an individual's risk perceptions. The second result was that the gender of the respondent was the only variable found to be robust across all three classes of health and food safety issues across two time periods.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Office International Des Epizooties (World Organization for Animal Health) World Animal Health in 1998, Part 1: Reports on the Animal Health Status and Disease Control Methods and Tables on Incidence of List A Diseases and Part 2: Tables on the Animal Health Status and Disease Control Methods
Peter Sedlmeier. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah Improving Statistical Reasoning: Theoretical Models and Practical Implications
Andrew Ford. Island Press Modeling the Environment. An Introduction to System Dynamics Modeling of Environmental Systems
Jacob I. Bregman. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton Environmental Impact Statements, Second Edition     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: S. Moolgavkar, D. Krewski, L. Zeise, E. Cardis, and H. Møller, Quantitative Estimation and Prediction of Human Cancer Risks Jacqueline Karnell Corn, Environmental Public Health Policy for Asbestos in Schools: Unintended Consequences Andrew Ford, Modeling the Environment. An Introduction to System Dynamics Modeling of Environmental Systems James Hamilton and W. Kip Viscusi, Calculating Risks? The Spatial and Political Dimensions of Hazardous Waste Policy Sharon M. Friedman, Sharon Dunwoody, and Carol L. Rogers, Communicating Uncertainty: Media Coverage of New and Controversial Science     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Jonathan Ashley-Smith, Risk Assessment for Object Conservation
Yacov Y. Haimes Risk Modeling, Assessment, and Management     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Curtis Travis, World Risk Society
D. Warner North, Science at EPA: Information in the Regulatory Process     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: V. W. Pentreath, Neurotoxicology in Vitro James T. Hamilton and W. Kip Viscusi, Calculating Risks? The Spatial and Political Dimensions of Hazardous Waste Policy     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
O'Brien, Mary, Making Better Environmental Decisions. An Alternative to Risk Assessment
Millard, Steven P. and Neerchal, Nagaraj K., Environmental Statistics with S-PLUS
Gorshkov, Victor G., Gorshkov, Vadim V. and Makarieva, Annastassia M., Biotic Regulation of the Environment     

Credibility, Information Preferences, and Information Interests

The Seveso Directive of the European Union demands that information be provided to the public by companies and authorities about facts, risks, and behaviors related to hazardous facilities, in particular chemical facilities. On behalf of the Commission of the European Communities, a survey was run in five European countries on the credibility of various information sources. This article describes the results of the German study. 430 persons were interviewed with a questionnaire of 50 items, in particular about their perceptions and evaluations of technical risks, the credibility of sources of information about chemical risks, their preferences for receiving risk information from these sources, and their interests in receiving information. Major findings are great differences in credibility, differentiated information preferences, and strong information interests. Surprisingly, credibility played only a minor role with regard to the respondents'information preferences and interests.     

The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Communication About Food Risks

Factors such as hazard type and source credibility have been identified as important in the establishment of effective strategies for risk communication. The elaboration likelihood model was adapted to investigate the potential impact of hazard type, information source, and persuasive content of information on individual engagement in elaborative, or thoughtful, cognitions about risk messages. One hundred sixty respondents were allocated to one of eight experimental groups, and the effects of source credibility, persuasive content of information and hazard type were systematically varied. The impact of the different factors on beliefs about the information and elaborative processing examined. Low credibility was particularly important in reducing risk perceptions, although persuasive content and hazard type were also influential in determining whether elaborative processing occurred.     

Economic Costs of Misinforming About Risk: The EDB Scare and the Media

This study reports results of an analysis of consumer responses to news reports of grain-product contamination by the pesticide ethylene dibromide (EDB). The results demonstrate that it is possible to quantify market disruption related to the dissemination of risk information. Implications include the need for increased awareness among risk managers that public perceptions, regardless of their objective accuracy, can induce real economic costs. Such costs should be considered in designing regulatory and information policies.     

“负面偏见”对平台认证型评论感知有用性的影响

从第三方评论平台对评论信息操控的角度,将评论分为平台认证型评论和一般评论。以平台认证型评论为研究对象,采用两阶段情境试验法,基于归因理论,探讨了"负面偏见"对在线评论感知有用性的影响,及评论者等级和"负面偏见"两者的交互作用对平台认证型评论的感知有用性影响差异与内在机制。研究结果表明：①对于平台认证型评论,负面评论感知有用性高于正面评论,即"负面偏见"效应依然显著;②评论者等级会调节"负面偏见"对评论感知有用性的影响,平台认证型正面评论的评论者等级越高,评论感知有用性越高;但这种影响差异对负面评论不显著;③在"负面偏见"和评论者等级的交互作用对评论感知有用性的影响中,评论归因发挥中介效应,评论者等级高（vs.评论者等级低）能够显著激发消费者对正面评论的产品归因倾向,从而增强对评论的有用性感知;但对于负面评论,评论者等级高和低对评论归因倾向带来的影响差异不显著,导致无论评论者等级高和低,平台认证型负面评论感知有用性差异不显著。本研究不仅完善了在线评论的研究框架,对在线评论有用性影响因素的研究进行了一定的补充,而且拓展和丰富了归因理论的应用和解释范围,最后根据研究结论为企业管理和利用在线评论提供了有针对性的对策建议。     

Why aren't managers concerned about occupational stress?

To explain the rarity of workplace stress management interventions, it is thought that managers are not concerned with the risks of occupational stress to health and job performance. Some writers consider either (1) deficiencies in theory, and/or (2) deficiencies in methodology to be the cause of this apparent lack of concern. The aim of this paper is to illustrate another perspective on this issue; that of risk perception. Two perspectives on risk perception are discussed; the psychometric view and the cultural view. The psychometric view suggests that senior managers may underestimate the risks associated with stress. The cultural view suggests that managers may consider stress management to be inappropriate, since individuals, not organizations, should be responsible for coping with stress. Both perspectives indicate that very few managers may consider stress to be a risk that should be actively managed by the organization. The associated disciplines of risk management and particularly risk communication are discussed to suggest ways to overcome lack of managerial interest in stress management.     

Why aren't managers concerned about occupational stress?

Abstract

To explain the rarity of workplace stress management interventions, it is thought that managers are not concerned with the risks of occupational stress to health and job performance. Some writers consider either (1) deficiencies in theory, and/or (2) deficiencies in methodology to be the cause of this apparent lack of concern. The aim of this paper is to illustrate another perspective on this issue; that of risk perception. Two perspectives on risk perception are discussed; the psychometric view and the cultural view. The psychometric view suggests that senior managers may underestimate the risks associated with stress. The cultural view suggests that managers may consider stress management to be inappropriate, since individuals, not organizations, should be responsible for coping with stress. Both perspectives indicate that very few managers may consider stress to be a risk that should be actively managed by the organization. The associated disciplines of risk management and particularly risk communication are discussed to suggest ways to overcome lack of managerial interest in stress management.     

Further Notes on Public Response to Uncertainty in Risks and Science

Given the prevalence of uncertainty and variability in estimates of environmental health risks, it is important to know how citizens interpret information representing uncertainty in risk estimates. Ranges of risk estimates from a hypothetical industry source elicited divergent evaluations of risk assessors' honesty and competence among New Jersey residents within one mile of one or more factories. A plurality saw ranges of risk estimates as both honest and competent, but with most judging such ranges as deficient on one or both dimensions. They wanted definitive conclusions about safety, tended to believe the high end of the range was more likely to be an accurate estimate of the risk, and believed that institutions only discuss risks when they are "high." Acknowledgment of scientific, as opposed to self-interested, reasons for uncertainty and disputes among experts was low. Attitude toward local industry seemed associated with, if not a cause of, attitudes about ranges of risk estimates. These reactions by industry neighbors appear to replicate the findings of Johnson and Slovic (1995, 1998), despite the hypothetical producer of risk estimates being industry instead of government. Respondents were older and less educated on average than were the earlier samples, but more diverse. Regression analyses suggested attitude toward industry was a major factor in these reactions, although other explanations (e.g., level of scientific understanding independent of general education) were not tested in this study.