Browsing by Author "Cifuentes, Luis Abdon"
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- ItemAccounting for variation in the explanatory power of the psychometric paradigm: The effects of aggregation and focus(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2007) Bronfman, Nicolas C.; Cifuentes, Luis Abdon; Dekay, Michael L.; Willis, Henry H.Most psychometric studies of risk perception have used data that have been averaged over participants prior to analysis. Such aggregation obscures variation among participants and inflates the magnitude of relationships between psychometric dimensions and dependent variables such as overall riskiness. However, most studies that have not averaged data over participants have also shifted the focus of analysis from differences among hazards to differences among participants. Hence, it is unclear whether observed reductions in the explanatory power of psychometric dimensions result from the change in the level of analysis or from the change in the focus of analysis. Following Willis et al.'s ( 2005) analysis of ecological risk perceptions, we unconfound these two variables in a study of risk perceptions in Santiago, Chile, although we use more traditional hazards, attributes, and statistical procedures. Results confirm that psychometric dimensions explain less variation in judgments of riskiness and acceptability at the disaggregate level than at the aggregate level. However, they also explain less variation when the focus of analysis is differences among participants rather than differences among hazards. These two effects appear to be similar in magnitude. A simple hybrid analysis economically represents variation among participants' judgments of hazards' riskiness by relating those judgments to a common set of psychometric dimensions from a traditional aggregate-level analysis.
- ItemThe influence of information delivery on risk ranking by lay people(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2006) Gutierrez, Virna Vaneza; Cifuentes, Luis Abdon; Bronfman, Nicolas C.An experiment was conducted in a real environment to test how information delivery affects risk ranking. Another aim was to propose the best format for delivering information. Different people received different types of information about risks in a risk ranking exercise: Group 1 received a descriptive paragraph about the hazards (Format 1); Group 2 added a table with specific information on risk attributes (Format 2); Group 3 added information on the steps taken locally to mitigate the risks (Format 3), and Group 4 received a data table without identifying the hazard (Format 4). Agreement among subjects' rankings within a group and from group to group was used to measure the potential impact of information delivery. Average pair-wise Spearman correlation was used to compare the level of agreement within each group. Results showed greater consensus in the group using Format 4 than in Formats 1, 2, and 3, with the only significant difference between Format 4 and each one of the others. The results show that the amount of information, and the way it is delivered, may affect how lay people rank risks, but the differences are not statistically significant.
- ItemTrust, acceptance and knowledge of technological and environmental hazards in Chile(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2008) Bronfman, Nicolas C.; Vazquez, Esperanza Lopez; Gutierrez, Virna Vaneza; Cifuentes, Luis AbdonStudies over the past decade have found empirical links between trust in risk management institutions and the risk perceptions and acceptability of various individual hazards. Mostly addressing food technologies, no study to date has explored wider possible relationships among all four core variables (risk, benefit, trust and acceptability) covering a heterogeneous group of hazards. Our prime objective was to ascertain effects among social trust in regulatory entities, and the public's perceived risk, perceived benefit and the degree of acceptability towards both technological and environmental hazards. We also assess whether trust in regulatory authorities is the cause (causal model) or a consequence (associationist model) of a hazard's acceptability for a wide and heterogeneous range of hazards on all four core variables. Using a web-based survey, 539 undergraduates in Chile rated the five variables across 30 hazards. Implications for technology and environmental risk management organizations are discussed. Independent of the magnitude of the perceived risk or benefit surrounding a given hazard, or how knowledgeable the public claim to be of it, the trust sustained in regulatory institutions will either generate or be the consequence of public attitudes towards the hazard.