Risk Perception: Cognitive and Emotional Influences on Health-Related Decisions
Decisions concerning health are often based on a person’s perception of the risks associated with a given behavior or condition. The way in which individuals perceive risk has been studied extensively, and various cognitive and emotional factors have been identified as influencing risk perception. This article will discuss the cognitive and emotional influences on risk perception and how they affect decisions regarding health.
Cognitive Influences on Risk Perception
Cognitive influences refer to the thought processes that go into assessing the risks associated with a given behavior or condition. Research has shown that people typically overestimate the likelihood of rare events and underestimate the probability of more common ones (Lichtenstein, Slovic, Fischhoff, Layman & Combs, 1978). This is known as the “availability heuristic” and is thought to be due to the fact that rare events are more easily recalled than common ones (Lichtenstein et al., 1978). Furthermore, people tend to overestimate the severity of risks due to the “dread factor” (Slovic, 1987). This is the notion that people are more likely to fear a risk if it is sudden, uncontrollable, and catastrophic.
Another cognitive factor that influences risk perception is the “framing effect” (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). This refers to the tendency of people to make different decisions depending on how a risk is framed. For example, if a person is presented with two options, one with a certain benefit and one with an uncertain benefit, they are more likely to choose the certain option (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). This is because the uncertain option is perceived as more risky.
Emotional Influences on Risk Perception
Emotional influences refer to the feelings that people experience when assessing the risks associated with a given behavior or condition. Research has shown that people tend to overestimate the risks associated with events that evoke strong emotions (Slovic, 1987). This is because people are more likely to remember cases where the feared event occurred than cases where the risk did not materialize (Slovic, 1987). Furthermore, people are more likely to fear risks that are unfamiliar, uncontrollable, and perceived to be unfair (Slovic, 1987).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the way in which individuals perceive risk is influenced by a variety of cognitive and emotional factors. These factors include the availability heuristic, the dread factor, the framing effect, and emotional responses to unfamiliar, uncontrollable, and unfair risks. Understanding these factors can help inform decisions regarding health.
References
Lichtenstein, S., Slovic, P., Fischhoff, B., Layman, M., & Combs, B. (1978). Judged frequency of lethal events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 4(1), 551-578.
Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of risk. Science, 236(4799), 280-285.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131.