Parsing Susceptibility and Severity Dimensions of Health Risk Perceptions
Parsing Susceptibility and Severity Dimensions of Health Risk Perceptions
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DOI：
10.1080/10810730.2014.989342
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发表时间：
2015-05-04
影响因子：
4.4
通讯作者：
El-Toukhy, Sherine
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
El-Toukhy, Sherine
风险认知是积极行为改变的重要决定因素，通常被概念化为两个概念的相加或相乘指数：健康风险的易感性和严重性。易感性是经历健康风险的可能性，而严重性是其严重性或危害性。这篇文章对当前风险认知的理论化提出了挑战。为了证明对易感性和严重性的不同看法，两项自我报告研究(N=70)和一项反应时间研究(N=476)提供了关于50种健康状况的数据，这些健康状况在几个风险特征(例如，流行率、个人经历)上存在差异。结果表明，易感性和严重性是两个截然不同的、相反相关的概念。感知的易感性和严重性因风险特征而异，主要是流行率(即感知的健康风险有多普遍)。自我报告数据显示，健康风险流行率的逐渐增加与易感性的增加和严重性的降低(反之亦然)相关。反应时间数据反映了这一模式，并表明这些对敏感度和严重性的不同看法是非常容易获得的，快速反应时间就是明显的。一些个体差异(例如，乐观)成为风险认知及其可及性的重要预测指标。文中还讨论了理论和实践意义。
Risk perceptions, an important determinant of positive behavioral change, are often conceptualized as an additive or multiplicative index of two concepts: susceptibility to and severity of a health risk. Susceptibility is the possibility of experiencing a health risk, whereas severity is its seriousness or harmfulness. This article challenged the current theorization of risk perceptions. To demonstrate the differential perceptions of susceptibility and severity, two self-report studies (N=70, each) and one reaction time study (N=476) provided data on 50 health conditions that varied on several risk characteristics (e.g., prevalence, personal experience). Results showed that susceptibility and severity were two distinct, inversely related concepts. Perceived susceptibility and severity varied by risk characteristics, mainly prevalence (i.e., how common a health risk was perceived to be). Self-report data showed that a progressive increase in perceptions of a health risk prevalence rates was associated with an increase in susceptibility and a decrease in severity (and vice versa). Reaction-time data mirrored this pattern and showed these differential perceptions of susceptibility and severity were highly accessible, as evident by fast reaction times. Several individual differences (e.g., optimism) emerged as significant predictors of risk perceptions and their accessibility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.