Risk creation, self-attribution of responsibility and risk behaviours

Dawson, Ian (2018) Risk creation, self-attribution of responsibility and risk behaviours. The 27th Annual Conference of the Society for Risk Analysis Europe: Risk & Uncertainty: From Critical Thinking to Practical Impact, Mid-Sweden University, Ostersund, Sweden. 17 - 20 Jun 2018.

Abstract

Many risks are created by humans. For example, the risk of climate change and ocean acidification can be attributed to burning fossil fuels, ill-health is often experienced as a result of engaging in certain lifestyle behaviours, and ecosystem loss is associated with the pollution and habitat destruction caused by humans. Although the creation of most risks is generally unintentional, it is still possible that in many circumstances individuals will recognise some degree of personal responsibility for creating the risk and, therefore, perceive a moral obligation to manage the risk (e.g., reducing carbon emissions). However, the extent to which risk management behaviours are motivated by self-attributed responsibility for risk creation has received little empirical attention. To address this issue, I conducted a study in which participants responded to three scenarios (road safety, environment, animal welfare) that each described a situation in which a particular risk developed. Using a between-subjects design, the description of the extent to which the participant was culpable for creating the risk was varied for each scenario. After reading the scenarios, participants responded to measures of liability, perceived risk, guilt, self-attribution of responsibility, moral standards and willingness to pay to manage the risk. Multiple regression analysis showed that the only significant predictor of the participant’s willingness to pay to manage the risk was self-attribution of responsibility (p = 0.001). Hence, while a wealth of research has identified the important role that risk perceptions often play in determining risk-related behaviours, self-attribution of responsibility for risk creation may be a more important determinant in some circumstances. Furthermore, guilt (the negative affective response elicited by a belief that one is deserving of blame) was not a significant predictor of willingness to pay. Taken together, these findings suggest that risk communications aimed at motivating risk management behaviours should focus on highlighting the extent to which the target audience may be responsible for creating the risk, but should be careful to avoid eliciting feelings of guilt. Eliciting guilt may be ineffective at motivating risk management behaviours and, as highlighted by previous studies, may even be counter-productive because it can elicit defensive reactions.

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Contributors

Author: Ian Dawson

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