Workers’ Risk Underestimation and Occupational Health and Safety Regulation

The standard treatment of occupational risk in the labour market is conducted in terms of the theory of compensating wage differentials, the basic characteristic of which is that workers can fully estimate actual occupational risks. However, research in cognitive psychology, and recent advances in economic psychology, suggest that individuals consistently underestimate risks associated with accidents. In this paper, we discuss the case when the workers systematically underestimate job risks. After presenting the standard treatment of occupational risks, and of health and safety at work regulation, we then proceed to incorporate the idea of job risk underestimation. The paper discusses the types and impact of regulation on health and safety effort in a simple framework in which workers’ beliefs concerning accident risks also play a role. The paper shows that a particular type of regulatory intervention is necessary for the risk underestimating workers not to suffer a welfare loss.Job Risk; Occupational Health and Safety

The Role of the Unconscious in the Perception of Risks

Dr. Fritzsche argues that our world is too rational and that the psychology of the unconscious, as developed by Jung, can be key to understanding responses to hazards and to resolving conflicts that arise in the political management of risks

Психолого-педагогические риски в условиях многонационального общеобразовательного учреждения

В статье рассматриваются основные подходы к оценке психолого-педагогических рисков в условиях многонационального общеобразовательного учреждения, приводится авторская классификация указанных рисков. Также раскрыты основные тенденции в психологии обучения в условиях многонациональных образовательных коллективов. Представлены результаты эмпирического изучения психолого-педагогических рисков.In the article the main approaches to an assessment of psychology and pedagogical risks in the conditions of multinational educational institution are considered, the author’s classification of the specified risks is given. Also the main tendencies in training psychology in the conditions of multinational educational collectives are disclosed. The results of empirical studying of psychology and pedagogical risks are presented

The Influence of Doctoral Psychology Trainees\u27 Personal Cannabis Use, Perceptions of Cannabis\u27 Risks, and Attitudes Toward Substance Use on Ability to Identify Cannabis Use Disorder

The incidence of cannabis use disorder is increasing across the United States as a function of increased cannabis use (Hasin et al., 2015); accordingly, it is critical that mental healthcare professionals be able to accurately identify cannabis use disorder. In light of this imperative, the current study explored potential barriers to diagnosing cannabis use disorder among doctoral psychology trainees. Participants (N = 123) were doctoral students in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and related disciplines. Utilizing a quasi-experimental analogue design, the study examined whether doctoral psychology trainees’ personal cannabis use predicted their perceptions of the risks of cannabis use and attitudes toward substance use. Additionally, the study explored whether doctoral psychology trainees’ personal cannabis use histories, perceptions of cannabis’ risks, and attitudes toward substance use would predict accurate diagnosis of cannabis use disorder. A series of t-tests revealed that trainees’ beliefs about the risks of cannabis use and attitudes toward substance use varied with history and recency of personal cannabis use. Additionally, partial correlation analyses revealed that doctoral psychology trainees’ perceptions of cannabis’ risks were negatively correlated with select attitudes toward substance use. Despite these findings, the study found that none of the attitudes explored significantly predicted diagnostic decisions among trainees. Additionally, contrary to study hypotheses, current cannabis use among doctoral psychology trainees increased the likelihood that trainees would accurately make a diagnosis of cannabis use disorder. Implications for graduate training, clinical practice, and public health are considered and recommendations for future research are provided

The Influence of Doctoral Psychology Trainees\u27 Personal Cannabis Use, Perceptions of Cannabis\u27 Risks, and Attitudes Toward Substance Use on Ability to Identify Cannabis Use Disorder

The incidence of cannabis use disorder is increasing across the United States as a function of increased cannabis use (Hasin et al., 2015); accordingly, it is critical that mental healthcare professionals be able to accurately identify cannabis use disorder. In light of this imperative, the current study explored potential barriers to diagnosing cannabis use disorder among doctoral psychology trainees. Participants (N = 123) were doctoral students in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and related disciplines. Utilizing a quasi-experimental analogue design, the study examined whether doctoral psychology trainees’ personal cannabis use predicted their perceptions of the risks of cannabis use and attitudes toward substance use. Additionally, the study explored whether doctoral psychology trainees’ personal cannabis use histories, perceptions of cannabis’ risks, and attitudes toward substance use would predict accurate diagnosis of cannabis use disorder. A series of t-tests revealed that trainees’ beliefs about the risks of cannabis use and attitudes toward substance use varied with history and recency of personal cannabis use. Additionally, partial correlation analyses revealed that doctoral psychology trainees’ perceptions of cannabis’ risks were negatively correlated with select attitudes toward substance use. Despite these findings, the study found that none of the attitudes explored significantly predicted diagnostic decisions among trainees. Additionally, contrary to study hypotheses, current cannabis use among doctoral psychology trainees increased the likelihood that trainees would accurately make a diagnosis of cannabis use disorder. Implications for graduate training, clinical practice, and public health are considered and recommendations for future research are provided

Promoting Bicycle Commuter Safety, Research Report 11-08

We present an overview of the risks associated with cycling to emphasize the need for safety. We focus on the application of frameworks from social psychology to education, one of the 5 Es—engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. We use the structure of the 5 Es to organize information with particular attention to engineering and education in the literature review. Engineering is essential because the infrastructure is vital to protecting cyclists. Education is emphasized since the central focus of the report is safety

Real Virtuality: A Code of Ethical Conduct. Recommendations for Good Scientific Practice and the Consumers of VR-Technology

The goal of this article is to present a first list of ethical concerns that may arise from research and personal use of virtual reality (VR) and related technology, and to offer concrete recommendations for minimizing those risks. Many of the recommendations call for focused research initiatives. In the first part of the article, we discuss the relevant evidence from psychology that motivates our concerns. In Section “Plasticity in the Human Mind,” we cover some of the main results suggesting that one’s environment can influence one’s psychological states, as well as recent work on inducing illusions of embodiment. Then, in Section “Illusions of Embodiment and Their Lasting Effect,” we go on to discuss recent evidence indicating that immersion in VR can have psychological effects that last after leaving the virtual environment. In the second part of the article, we turn to the risks and recommendations. We begin, in Section “The Research Ethics of VR,” with the research ethics of VR, covering six main topics: the limits of experimental environments, informed consent, clinical risks, dual-use, online research, and a general point about the limitations of a code of conduct for research. Then, in Section “Risks for Individuals and Society,” we turn to the risks of VR for the general public, covering four main topics: long-term immersion, neglect of the social and physical environment, risky content, and privacy. We offer concrete recommendations for each of these 10 topics, summarized in Table 1

Human preferences and risky choices

There are different views on what preferences for risks are and whether they are indicators of stable, underlying generic cognitive systems. Preferences could be conceived as an attitude towards a set of properties of context, memory and affect - a gauge of how much uncertainty one is willing to tolerate. This special issue aims to initiate a discussion on the stability of preferences for risks - as research has shown that different decision domains, response modes, and framing facilitate preference reversals. A consistent claim from behavioural decision researchers is that, contrary to the assumptions of classical economics, preferences are not stable and inherent constructs in individuals but are modified by levels of accessibility in memory, context, decision complexity, and type of psychological processing (e.g., sampling or computational “tradeoffs” in processing). For example, in a sampling-based decision-making paradigm it is argued that preferences are not essential for making risky decisions. The existing theoretical and empirical evidence reveals that human preferences are relative and unstable, undermining the predictions of normative theory. Recent theoretical accounts in psychology have expanded the debate further by offering evolutionary models of decision-making under risk. While most of the researcher has explored optimisation goals (traditionally assumed in economics), evolutionary psychology has promoted adaptation-driven processes for risky choices. Moreover, we have witnessed a renaissance of preferences as affect rather than as a construct with psycho-economical properties. Although behavioural decision research is still engaged in challenging the foundation of economic theory, at present, opinions seem less unified as to whether preferences reflect common psychological constructs

Teaching Psychological Principles to Cybersecurity Students

This paper will discuss our observations gained from teaching psychological principles and methods to undergraduate and postgraduate cybersecurity students. We will draw on and extend our previous work encouraging the teaching of psychology in computing and cybersecurity education. We pay special attention to the consideration of characteristics of cybersecurity students in terms of teaching psychology in a way that will be accessible and engaging. We then discuss the development and use of an online training tool which draws on psychology to help educators and companies to raise awareness of cybersecurity risks in students and employees. Finally, we offer some practical suggestions to incorporate psychology into the cybersecurity curriculum