A Quantitative Test of the Cultural Theory of Risk Perceptions: Comparison with the Psychometric Paradigm

Abstract

This paper seeks to compare two frameworks which have been proposed to explain risk perceptions, namely, cultural theory and the psychometric paradigm. A structured questionnaire which incorporated elements from both approaches was administered to 129 residents of Norwich, England. The qualitative risk characteristics generated by the psychometric paradigm explained a far greater proportion of the variance in risk perceptions than cultural biases, though it should be borne in mind that the qualitative characteristics refer directly to risks whereas cultural biases are much more distant variables. Correlations between cultural biases and risk perceptions were very low, but the key point was that each cultural bias was associated with concern about distinct types of risks and that the pattern of responses was compatible with that predicted by cultural theory. The cultural approach also provided indicators for underlying beliefs regarding trust and the environment; beliefs which were consistent within each world view but divergent between them. An important drawback, however, was that the psychometric questionnaire could only allocate 32% of the respondents unequivocally to one of the four cultural types. The rest of the sample expressed several cultural biases simultaneously, or none at all. Cultural biases are therefore probably best interpreted as four extreme world views, and a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies would generate better insights into who might defend these views in what circumstances, whether there are only four mutually exclusive world views or not, and how these views are related to patterns of social solidarity, and judgments on institutional trust.

The 'Wildavsky Heuristic': The Cultural Orientation of Mass Political Opinion

“…The first studies were done by Dake (1991) in collaboration with Wildavsky (Dake and Wildavsky 1990). Later researchers extended this research, confirming that the cultural worldviews associated with the group-grid typology do indeed explain variance in perceptions of environmental and various other types of risk, and explain it more powerfully than myriad other characteristics, including ideology, education, income, gender, race, and various personality traits (e.g., Ellis and Thompson 1997;Jenkins-Smith and Smith 1994;Marris et al 1998;Peters and Slovic 1996).…”

“…We use the methodology predominant in empirical investigations of the cultural theory of risk perception. These studies use opinion surveys to assess the relationship between risk perceptions and "cultural worldviews," the values associated with the group-grid ways of life (e.g., Dake and Wildavsky 1991;Jenkins-Smith and Smith 1994;Marris et al 1998;Peters and Slovic 1996). The power of worldviews to explain variance in risk perception is thought to furnish strong evidence that cultural ways of life permeate the cognitive and social processes by which individuals ascertain risk.…”

Risk and benefit judgment of excreta as fertilizer in agriculture: An exploratory investigation in Rwanda and Uganda

“…Peters et al (2006) argue that in some circumstances relying on affective impressions can be simpler and more efficient than using deliberative processes, especially when the required judgment or decision is complex or mental resources are limited. Marris et al (1998) distinguishes between two distinct approaches for explaining risk perception: the psychometric paradigm proposed by psychologists (Slovic et al 1985) and cultural theory proposed by anthropologists and sociologists (Douglas and Wildavsky 1982; Thompson et al 1990). In our exploratory investigation of "risk as a feeling," we draw on the theoretical framework from the field of psychology, specifically the psychometric paradigm.…”

Who fears the HPV vaccine, who doesn’t, and why? An experimental study of the mechanisms of cultural cognition.

“…Although one could see a rivalry between culture theory and the heuristic model (Marris, Langford, O'Riordan 1998;Douglas, 1997), it is unnecessary to view them as mutually exclusive. Indeed, one conception of the cultural theory-which we will call the cultural cognition thesis ((Kahan, Braman, Monahan, Callahan & Peters, in press;Kahan, Slovic, Braman & Gastil, 2006)-seeks to integrate them.…”