Risk Perceptions and Political Attitudes

• In Event: Political Implications of the Knowledge Economy and Technological Transition

Abstract

Applying the insights on the concept and measurement of risk perceptions from the decision sciences, we investigate the relationship between perceived risks associated with technological change and social policy attitudes. We explore whether risk perceptions are one- or multi-dimensional; whether the source of a hazard shapes risk perceptions (holding constant the hazard); whether risk perceptions are subject to framing effects; and whether the relationship between risk perceptions and social policy attitudes varies across risk dimension and/or source of hazard. The paper presents results from an original opinion survey with embedded survey experiments.

Authors

• Seobin Han, Ohio State University

• Philipp Rehm, Johns Hopkins University