Do Adolescent Smokers Know the Risks?

Professor Slovic challenges Professor Viscusi by suggesting that risk is a term with varying meanings and the potential for misinterpretation by study participants. He distinguishes between the probability and severity of a risk, and suggests that teens who know the probability of smoking causing cancer are not aware of the severity of the experience of cancer. He goes on to note that people often perceive themselves as being less at risk than others, and observes that Professor Viscusi\u27s study posed questions about others, instead of asking teens to assess their own risks. Thirdly, he argues that teens perceive each individual cigarette as posing a small risk even if they seem to be aware of the larger risk of smoking. Finally, since many teen smokers intend to quit, he contends, they do not see smoking as hazardous to themselves. He argues that Professor Viscusi underrates the misperception of the risks of personal addiction. Professor Slovic augments his argument with original research demonstrating that smoking teens are more likely than nonsmoking teens to perceive the short term risks of smoking as trivial

Coping with Stigma: Challenges & Opportunities

This paper discusses several strategies for preventing technological stigma from causing unwarranted bias in public decision making

Expert and Public Evaluations of Technological Risks: Searching for Common Ground

Drs. Flynn and Slovic compare and evaluate the ways in which the public and experts perceive technological risks

What\u27s Fear Got to Do with It - It\u27s Affect We Need to Worry About

My objective in this paper is to provide psychological perspective on the challenges to rational decision making in the face of terrorism and other risk crisis. I shall begin with an introduction to the psychology of risk, highlighting the role of affect and its contribution to what may be called “risk as feeling.” I shall then address the need to educate and inform citizens about risks from terrorism and some of the particular challenges this entails

Psicologia do risco

The essay contrasts the scientific approach to analyzing and making decisions about risk with the ways that ordinary people perceive and respond to risk. It highlights the importance of trust as a determiner of perceived risk. It describes relatively new research on "risk as feelings" and the "Affect Heuristic". Finally reflects on the importance of this work for risk communication and concludes with some observations about human rationality and irrationality in the face of risk.Trata-se de um ensaio que compara a abordagem científica da análise e tomada de decisão sobre riscos com a maneira como pessoas comuns percebem e respondem aos riscos. Aborda a importância da confiança como um determinante do risco percebido e descreve nova pesquisa sobre "risco como sentimentos", o "Efeito Heurístico" e a relevância desse novo trabalho. O conceito de risco é extremamente complexo, pois, além dos fatores científicos, está intrinsecamente associado a elementos sociais e sua percepção. Os riscos envolvem muitas incertezas de difícil medição. Outra questão importante é a amplificação social do risco. A confiança é a palavra-chave para problemas de comunicação sobre o risco. A conclusão é feita ao redor do tema da racionalidade e irracionalidade humana face ao risco

Predicting Future Sources of Mass Toxic Tort Litigation

The authors describe the efforts of an expert working group to identify potential sources, over the next five to ten years, of future mass litigation and report on the group\u27s consensus conclusions