Risk: From perception to social representation

Abstract

This paper is concerned with how people make meaning of the risks they face. It explores certain assumptions of the risk perception approaches, which dominate the area. It argues that despite changes currently taking place in the eld, such models still focus on static, intrapersonal processes, with many viewing human thinking as analogous to erroneous information processing. In the place of an individual 'dee cit' focus, the paper proposes a more intersubjective theory of the response to risk. Social representations theory is evaluated and its validity assessed by highlighting empirical work on representations of biotechnological and health risks. The review reveals that the response to risk is a highly social, emotive and symbolic entity. Therefore a theory and methods appropriate to such qualities are proposed, to produce a valid psychology of risk. This paper explores how lay people make meaning of risks, ranging from dangers posed by genetically modified (GM) food to developing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). It argues that the 'perception' approaches, dominant in the psychology of risk, might usefully be challenged by a 'social representations' approach. The perception approaches stress the intrapersonal level, often excluding broader influences, and highlight cognitive issues such as the biases and heuristics used in the apprehension of risks. In the place of an individualized 'deficit' model of static risk perceptions, the paper proposes a psychological approach concerned with how the particular representation of a risk evolves, why it is created and accepted, and the symbolic factors that feed it. Existing theories of the perception of risk are summarized to show how the chosen approach avoids their shortcomings. The aim of the paper is to explain the relevance and utility of social representations theory (SRT) for the risk sphere, with the hope that this provides food for thought to those working within other approaches. The validity of SRT is ascertained by reviewing the English-language social representations literature on risk. Dee ning risk At the outset, the definition of risk utilized in this paper must be clarified. There is no commonly accepted definition of the term 'risk', either in science or in lay perception (Renn, 1998). However, many definitions share the notion of anticipating future, uncertain outcomes. Since the concern of this paper lies predominantly with lay