A domain-specific risk-attitude scale: measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors

2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elke U. Weber ◽  
Ann-Ren�e Blais ◽  
Nancy E. Betz
Author(s):  
Elke U. Weber ◽  
Ann-Renée Blais ◽  
Nancy Betz

Author(s):  
Douglas Van Bossuyt ◽  
Chris Hoyle ◽  
Irem Y. Tumer ◽  
Andy Dong ◽  
Toni Doolen ◽  
...  

Design projects within large engineering organizations involve numerous uncertainties that can lead to unacceptably high levels of risk. Practicing designers recognize the existence of risk and commonly are aware of events that raise risk levels. However, a disconnect exists between past project performance and current project execution that limits decision-making. This disconnect is primarily due to a lack of quantitative models that can be used for rational decision-making. Methods and tools used to make decisions in risk-informed design generally use an expected value approach. Research in the psychology domain has shown that decision-makers and stakeholders have domain-specific risk attitudes that often have variations between individuals and between companies. Risk methods used in engineering such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and others are often ill-equipped to help stakeholders make decisions based upon risk-tolerant or risk-averse decision-making conditions. This paper focuses on the specific issue of helping stakeholders make decisions under risk-tolerant or risk-averse decision-making conditions and presents a novel method of translating engineering risk data from the domain of expected value into a domain corrected for risk attitude. This is done by using risk utility functions derived from the Engineering-Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (E-DOSPERT) test. This method allows decisions to be made based upon data that is risk attitude corrected. Further, the method uses an aspirational measure of risk attitude as opposed to existing lottery methods of generating utility functions that are based upon past performance. An illustrative test case using a simplified space mission designed in a collaborative design center environment is included. The method is shown to change risk-informed decisions in certain situations where a risk-tolerant or risk-averse decision-maker would likely choose differently than the dictates of the expected value approach.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 744-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thekla Morgenroth ◽  
Cordelia Fine ◽  
Michelle K. Ryan ◽  
Anna E. Genat

We investigated whether risk-taking measures inadvertently focus on behaviors that are more normative for men, resulting in the overestimation of gender differences. Using a popular measure of risk-taking (Domain-Specific Risk-Taking) in Study 1 ( N = 99), we found that conventionally used behaviors were more normative for men, while, overall, newly developed behaviors were not. In Studies 2 ( N = 114) and 3 ( N = 124), we demonstrate that differences in normativity are reflected in gender differences in self-reported risk-taking, which are dependent on the specific items used. Study 3 further demonstrates that conventional, masculine risk behaviors are perceived as more risky than newly generated, more feminine items, even when risks are matched. We conclude that there is confirmation bias in risk-taking measurement.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Wilke ◽  
Amanda Sherman ◽  
Bonnie Curdt ◽  
Sumona Mondal ◽  
Carey Fitzgerald ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Wilke ◽  
Amanda Sherman ◽  
Bonnie Curdt ◽  
Sumona Mondal ◽  
Carey Fitzgerald ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Simmat-Durand ◽  
Anja Koski-Jännes

Simmat-Durand, L., & Koski-Jännes, A. (2015). The risks of cannabis and other illicit drugs: Views among French and Finnish addiction treatment providers. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 4(1), 61-69. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v4i1.201Aims: This study explores the effect of cultural context and group-level factors on the views held by treatment professionals in France and Finland about addiction and the dangers of illicit drugs.Design: Cross-cultural survey.Setting: Similar questionnaires were mailed to professionals working in specialized addiction treatment units in both countries.Participants: In Finland, 520 treatment providers working personally with clients responded, and 472 responded in France. The samples differed in several ways. Most notably, the medical profession was more dominant in France, while social work and counselling dominated in Finland.Measures: In addition to demographics, the questions covered different addictions, and included questions on the levels of danger of heroin, amphetamines and cannabis for individuals and the society.Findings: Consistent cultural differences appeared in the views of Finnish and French professionals regarding the addictiveness of illicit drugs and their level of danger to society. These differences remained significant after controlling for professions and other background variables.Conclusions: Cultural context, local prevalence of high-risk behaviors, familiarity with the substance, country of residence, and level of education appeared as major modifiers of risk perceptions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeltje Blankenstein ◽  
Jorien van Hoorn ◽  
Tycho Dekkers ◽  
Arne Popma ◽  
Brenda Jansen ◽  
...  

Adolescence is a phase of heightened risk taking compared to childhood and adulthood, which is even more prominent for specific adolescent populations, such as youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Until now little is known about how perceived risks and benefits relate to adolescent risk taking. Here, we used the adolescent version of the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DoSpeRT) scale to investigate the likelihood of risk taking, perceived risks, perceived benefits, and their tradeoff in two studies. In the first longitudinal study, 375 11-to-23-year-olds completed the DOSPERT one up to three times. A second biannual longitudinal study included 180 11-to-20-year old boys diagnosed with ADHD (N=81), and an IQ and age-matched control group (N=99). Using mixed-effects models, we found a peak in likelihood of risk taking in mid-to-late adolescence, but only in the health/safety, ethical, and social domains of risk taking, with similar curvilinear patterns in perceived benefits (peaks) and perceived risks (dips). In both cohorts, perceived risks and benefits were significant predictors of risk taking in all domains, and perceived benefits related more strongly to risk taking than perceived risks. Moreover, perceived benefits increasingly related to risk taking across adolescence, a pattern that was found in recreational risk taking in both studies. Generally, we observed little differences in risk taking, and perceived risks and benefits between the ADHD and control group. However, risk-return models indicated that adolescents with ADHD displayed a heightened likelihood of risk-taking behavior in the social domain, and their perceived risks related less strongly to risk taking, relative to typically developing adolescents. Taken together, our results are consistent with the developmental peak in risk taking observed in real life and highlight the role of perceived risks and benefits in risk taking. These findings provide tentative entry points for possible prevention and intervention.


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