S
Risk Perceptions and their relation to Risk
BehaviorArticle by: Noel T. Brewer, PhD., Neil D. Weisntein, PhD and Cara L.
Cuite, PhD
Yazmin Brambila
Outline
Introduction
Risk Perception/Behavior hypothesis Accuracy hypothesis Behavior hypothesis Risk Reappraisal hypothesis
Model of risk perception and behavior
Method
Results
Conclusions
Introduction
Perceived risk can affect protective behavior and protective behavior can affect perceived risk because of the complexity of these constructs incorrect tests often lead to invalid conclusions
Perceived risk is a central construct of most theories of health behavior How is this question assessed?
Risk Perception/Behavior Hypothesis
3 hypotheses tested Behavior motivation hypothesis Risk reappraisal hypothesis Accuracy hypothesis
Accuracy Hypothesis (AH)
Asserts that perceptions of risk at any given time properly reflect one’s risk factors at that time. It is a descriptive statement about the relation between risk perceptions and behavior but it does not imply any causal connection between these constructs.
Correlation often misinterpreted as a test of behavior
Cross sectional design
Useful for identifying information deficits and the need for public or patient education
Behavior Motivation Hypothesis (BMH)
Describes the effects of perceptions of risk on changes of behavior. This hypothesis is about cause and effect For example:
“I feel at risk for Lyme disease, so ill get vaccinated”
Longitudinal design
Risk Reappraisal hypothesis
Describes the effects of changes in behavior on changes in perceived risk.
Increasing preventive behavior leads to lower perceived risk An example:
“Now that I am vaccinated, my risk is lower”
Risk questions need to specify a behavioral context
Longitudinal design
Model of Risk Perception/Behavior
Method
Participants 3 cities 1005 start 745 at follow up Heard about Lyme Disease Not vaccinated
Procedures and Measures Telephone interviews
Questions were asked to assess perceived risk
Results
Behavior hypothesis was supported by the data People that perceive risk to be high at time 1 were
more likely to be vaccinated by time 2
Accuracy Hypothesis was also supported. People who had been vaccinated perceived lower
risk at time 2
Risk Reappraisal was also supported
Conclusion
BMH: the odds ratio (OR) of 5.81 meaning that those with high initial risk perceptions were about 6 times more likely to get vaccinated than those with low initial risk perceptions Higher risk judgment appear to encourage people to engage in protective behavior
AH: The odds ration (OR) of .44 meaning that one group was 66% (1 minus .44) more likely to perceive lower risk than those that were not vaccinated
Risk perception “appear” to lead to vaccination because these are correlational findings
Members of the public often misinterpret their risk of health problems and correcting these misinterpretations are seen as a way to encourage healthy behavior
It s important to not confuse the behavior and risk perception hypothesis as it would lead to different/opposite outcomes
Complex relations between perceived risk and behavior require care in the information of risk questions, the choice of study design and the selection of the statistical procedures