Carmen Keller

Perceived risks and perceived benefits of different nanotechnology foods and nanotechnology food packaging

Nanotechnology has the potential to generate new food products and new food packaging. In a mail survey in the German speaking part of Switzerland, lay peoples (N=337) perceptions of 19 nanotechnology applications were examined. The goal was to identify food applications that are more likely and food applications that are less likely to be accepted by the public. The psychometric paradigm was employed, and applications were described in short scenarios. Results suggest that affect and perceived control are important factors influencing risk and benefit perception. Nanotechnology food packaging was assessed as less problematic than nanotechnology foods. Analyses of individual data showed that the importance of naturalness in food products and trust were significant factors influencing the perceived risk and the perceived benefit of nanotechnology foods and nanotechnology food packaging.

Affective Imagery and Acceptance of Replacing Nuclear Power Plants

This study examined the relationship between the content of spontaneous associations with nuclear power plants and the acceptance of using new-generation nuclear power plants to replace old ones. The study also considered gender as a variable. A representative sample of the German- and French-speaking population of Switzerland (N= 1,221) was used. Log-linear models revealed significant two-way interactions between the association content and acceptance, association content and gender, and gender and acceptance. Correspondence analysis revealed that participants who were opposed to nuclear power plants mainly associated nuclear power plants with risk, negative feelings, accidents, radioactivity, waste disposal, military use, and negative consequences for health and environment; whereas participants favoring nuclear power plants mainly associated them with energy, appearance descriptions of nuclear power plants, and necessity. Thus, individuals opposing nuclear power plants had both more concrete and more diverse associations with them than people who were in favor of nuclear power plants. In addition, participants who were undecided often mentioned similar associations to those participants who were in favor. Males more often expressed associations with energy, waste disposal, and negative health effects. Females more often made associations with appearance descriptions, negative feelings, and negative environmental effects. The results further suggest that acceptance of replacing nuclear power plants was higher in the German-speaking part of the country, where all of the Swiss nuclear power plants are physically located. Practical implications for risk communication are discussed.

The Less You Know, the More You Are Afraid of—A Survey on Risk Perceptions of Investment Products

We conducted a survey on risk perceptions of investment products in the German-speaking area of Switzerland. Unlike the typical two-factor structure documented in the previous literature, we found that knowledge-related scales were highly correlated with risk-related scales, whereas the correlation between perceived risk and historical risk measures was much lower. The respondents perceived those easier-to-understand products as less risky, which was likely driven by the familiarity bias. Our results are in line with the affect heuristic and risk-as-feelings hypotheses.

Does personality influence eating styles and food choices?: Direct and indirect effects

In a random sample (N = 951) from the general population, direct and indirect effects of the Big Five personality traits on eating styles and food choices were examined. Path models revealed that high openness to experience were associated with higher fruit, vegetable and salad and lower meat and soft drink consumption. High agreeableness was associated with low meat consumption. Neuroticism, conscientiousness and extraversion significantly and directly influenced eating styles and significantly indirectly influenced food choices. Conscientiousness mainly promoted fruit consumption by promoting restrained eating and prevented meat consumption by reducing external eating. Conscientiousness prevented consumption of sweet and savory foods, and of sugar-sweetened soft drinks by promoting restrained eating and reducing external eating, and consumption of sweet and savory foods also by reducing emotional eating. Neuroticism promoted consumption of sweet and savory foods by promoting emotional and external eating. Extraversion promoted sweet and savory, meat and soft drink consumption via promoting external eating. Results suggest that neurotic and emotionally unstable individuals seem to adopt counter-regulatory external or emotional eating and eat high-energy dense sweet and savory foods. Highly conscientious individuals adopt regulatory dietary restraint and practice counter-regulatory emotional or external eating less, resulting in more consumption of recommended and less consumption of not recommended food. The higher sociability of extraverted people, which is basically a health beneficial psychological resource, seems to have health-averse effects. Personality traits are stable; however, the resulting more proximal, counter-regulatory eating styles such as emotional or external eating might be more successfully addressed in interventions to prevent overeating and overweight.

Bringing appraisal theory to environmental risk perception: a review of conceptual approaches of the past 40 years and suggestions for future research

An intensive program of 40 years of research has produced various conceptual cognitive and affective approaches to environmental risk perception. In this short review of the most relevant conceptual approaches, appraisal theory is presented as a useful means of integrating cognitive and affective approaches to risk perception. Appraisal theory offers an opportunity to advance our understanding of how environmental risk perception operates in an emotion-specific manner and enables identification of new research directions. Although within other conceptual approaches there are still open research questions, the potential for examining environmental risk perception within appraisal theory has not yet been fully explored. Reviewing current appraisal theoretical models, seven research questions are suggested to structure future research on environmental risk perception.

Money Attitude Typology and Stock Investment

This study identifies segments of individual investors based on their money attitudes (attitude toward financial security, attitude toward stock investing, obsession with money, perceived immorality of the stock market, attitude toward gambling, interest in financial matters, attitude toward saving, frankness about finances). A cluster analysis of data from a representative mail survey conducted in Switzerland (N = 1,569) yielded four main segments of individual investors we term safe players, open books, money dummies, and risk-seekers. This typology has forecast value for behavior: Each type differed with regard to having investment portfolios, buying and selling securities, risk tolerance for maximization of capital, response to price fluctuations, and willingness to make environmentally and socially responsible investments.

Use Patterns of Leave-on Personal Care Products among Swiss-German Children, Adolescents, and Adults

In order to model exposure to ingredients contained in personal care products (PCPs) and assess their potential risks to human health, access to reliable PCP use data, including co-use patterns, is essential. A postal questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the use patterns of eight leave-on PCP categories among the German-speaking population of Switzerland (N = 1,196; ages 0–97 years), providing for the first time in Europe PCP use data for children <12 years of age. The majority of respondents (99%) reported having used at least one of the investigated PCP categories in the past year. Co-use of two or more PCP categories at the same time was common and more complex amongst adults. Regular use of face cream and body lotion was very high in the youngest group of children aged 0–4 years (more than 79% respondents) who may be more vulnerable to certain adverse effects of some PCP ingredients. A comparison with previously collected information on PCP use patterns in Germany and the Netherlands indicates differences in PCP use patterns among European consumers and suggests that surrogate PCP use data from other countries must be used with caution. This work extends the existing knowledge of PCP use patterns and will be useful for new exposure assessments for ingredients contained in PCPs used by the young consumers.

The Effect of Graphical and Numerical Presentation of Hypothetical Prenatal Diagnosis Results on Risk Perception

Objective. To evaluate various formats for the communication of prenatal test results. Design. In study 1 (N=400), female students completed a questionnaire assessing risk perception, affect, and perceived usefulness of prenatal test results. A randomized, 2 (risk level; low, high) × 4 (format; ratio with numerator 1, ratio with denominator 1000, Paling Perspective Scale, pictograms) design was used. Study 2 (N=200) employed a 2 (risk level; low, high) × 2 (format; Paling Perspective Scale, risk comparisons in numerical format) design. Results. In study 1, the Paling Perspective Scale resulted in a higher level of perceived risk across different risk levels compared with the other formats. Furthermore, participants in the low-risk group perceived the test results as less risky compared with participants in the high-risk group (P < 0.001) when the Paling Perspective Scale was used. No significant differences between low and high risks were observed for the other 3 formats. In study 2, the Paling Perspective Scale evoked higher levels of perceived risks relative to the numerical presentation of risk comparisons. For both formats, we found that participants confronted with a high risk perceived test results as more risky compared with participants confronted with a low risk. Conclusion. The Paling Perspective Scale resulted in a higher level of perceived risk compared with the other formats. This effect must be taken into account when choosing a graphical or numerical format for risk communication.

How do people perceive graphical risk communication? The role of subjective numeracy

This study aims to evaluate directly how a graphical risk ladder is perceived and how this perception is related to people’s subjective numeracy. Gaze durations and frequencies were used to examine visual attention. Participants (N = 47) appeared to focus on the target risk information, whereas referential information was less attended. Subjective numeracy was negatively correlated with total watching time and the absolute number of gaze events. Results suggest that participants with low subjective numeracy have more difficulty in comprehending the graph, and that they process the graphical information less efficiently than the participants with high subjective numeracy. In addition, the position of referential risks on risk ladders could influence people’s risk perception. Based on these findings, we provide some implications for the design of risk communication graphs and for the use of graphs in informing persons with low subjective numeracy about risks.

Conjoint Measurement of Base Station Siting Preferences

ABSTRACT Mobile communication has become a ubiquitous part of todays life. The ongoing growth of this technology, however, involves the construction of new mobile phone base stations in order to assure network coverage. The selection of a new base station site often results in conflicts between providers and public authorities, on the one hand, and residents on the other. The aim of the present study was to examine public preferences regarding base station sites. A random sample of 503 persons from the German speaking part of Switzerland was interviewed face-to-face in their homes. Conjoint analysis was used to evaluate participants’ preferences for various attributes of base stations (appearance, location, building, decision process). The results show that location plays the most important role in participants’ acceptance of base stations. The findings also indicate that most people would prefer a covered or camouflaged base station to a freely visible one. By means of a cluster analysis, several segments were distinguished, showing that base station siting preferences were not homogeneous. Implications for risk communication are discussed.