Perceived vs Actual Risk
- Risk is defined as the chance or probability that a harmful event will occur
- The statistical chance of a harmful event occurring needs to be supported by scientific evidence gained from research
- An individual's perception of risk may be different to the actual risk of something occurring
- Risk can be overestimated because of factors such as
- Misleading information in the media
- Overexposure to information
- Personal experience of the associated risk
- Unfamiliarity with the event
- The event causing severe harm
- Lack of enjoyment of an activity
- Risk can be underestimated because of factors such as
- Lack of information
- Misunderstanding of factors that increase the risk
- A lack of personal experience of the associated risk
- Unfamiliarity with the event
- The harm being non-immediate
- Enjoyment of an activity
- Risk can be overestimated because of factors such as
- The statistical chance of an event occurring often bears little resemblance to someone's perception of the risk
- E.g. the global annual risk of being killed in a road accident is 1 in 1 547, and the global annual risk of death due to crashing during a flight is 1 in 4.5-5.5 million; despite this people are far more likely to have a fear of flying than a fear of driving
