Public Perceptions of the Risks and Benefits of Technology

Gerald T. Gardner and Leroy C. Gould

Risk Analysis, 1989, vol. 9, issue 2, 225-242

Abstract: This study attempted to verify and extend previous research on people's perceptions of the risks and benefits of technology and their judgments concerning the acceptability of technology safety regulations. The study addressed several limitations of prior work, in that: (1) it was the first “expressed‐preference” study to collect data from large, representative samples of Americans; (2) the research design made “person,” rather than “technology,” the unit of statistical analysis; and (3) the study employed an expanded set of independent variables, including three qualitative benefit characteristics. The results confirmed several major conclusions of prior expressed‐preference research, the most important being that members of the public tend to define “risks,”“benefits,” and “acceptability” in a complex, multidimensional manner; and that their definitions differ significantly from those used by professional risk‐managers and other technical experts in quantitative assessments of risk and acceptability. The results also indicated that people's stances toward technology regulation tend to cut across traditional sociodemographic lines.

Date: 1989
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1989.tb01243.x

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:riskan:v:9:y:1989:i:2:p:225-242

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