Amy S.Y. Ho. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-58).

Nesta tese são desenvolvidos três estudos sobre o risco associado aos acidentes de trânsito, com o objetivo de avaliar como a população o percebe, e o valor que estaria disposta a pagar para reduzi-lo. As análises foram feitas com duas diferentes metodologias econométricas e dois diferentes conjuntos de dados da população de Porto Alegre. O primeiro estudo procurou avaliar que fatores de risco contribuem para aumentar a gravidade dos acidentes de trânsito, utilizando dados de acidentes de trânsito ocorridos na cidade de Porto Alegre no período 2000-2008, através de modelos logit ordenados generalizados. Os resultados indicam que a maioria das vítimas feridas em acidentes de trânsito são condutores jovens, do sexo masculino e que estavam em motocicletas ou cujo acidente foi um choque contra obstáculos. Contudo, as vítimas fatais têm maior probabilidade de morte são os pedestres, com mais de 60 anos de idade. Os acidentes com maior gravidade ocorrem em maior proporção a noite ou finais de semana, em locais mais afastados do centro da cidade, o que sugere comportamento associado à alta velocidade e uso de substâncias psicoativas como álcool. Para os demais estudos utilizaram-se dados de um survey feito com a população de Porto Alegre em 2009. O segundo estudo avalia como as características sócio-demográficas, a experiência no trânsito e a informação recebida, afetam a percepção do risco e o comportamento no trânsito. Os resultados indicam que os indivíduos que tem risco maior de morte no trânsito subestimam seu próprio risco e vice-versa; e que os mais jovens têm maior percepção deste risco, assim como os que tiveram experiência de acidente de trânsito ou passam mais tempo expostos a ele. O risco do consumo de bebidas alcoólicas associado ao trânsito, no entanto é percebido maior pelos idosos, mulheres, não bebedores ou quem não tem comportamento de risco, assim como pelos que têm mais informação do risco. Da mesma maneira, o comportamento de risco no trânsito associado ao consumo de álcool está negativamente relacionado a percepção deste risco e a idade. O terceiro estudo estimou a disposição a pagar ( ) dos entrevistados pela redução no seu próprio risco de sofrer lesões em um acidente de trânsito e o valor de uma vida estatística ( ), utilizando modelos lineares e não-lineares ajustados através de uma transformação Box-Cox. Os resultados indicam que a esta relacionada de forma decrescente com a idade e com a não utilização de dispositivos de segurança, mas aumenta com a renda, o tempo de exposição ao trânsito, a experiência com acidentes, para as mulheres e para os que têm dependentes. O valor médio eliciado da para reduzir a zero o risco das lesões mais graves, que resultam em morte, implicou em de cerca de R$ 13,4 milhões (US$7,3 milhões) - valor menor, porém comparável ao encontrado para países desenvolvidos e em estudo para o Brasil. / This thesis develops three studies on the risk associated with traffic accidents, in order to assess how people perceive it and the value they would be willing to pay to reduce it. The analysis was made with two different econometric methods and two different sets of data from Porto Alegre's population. The first study to assess at risk factors that contribute to increased severity of accidents, using data obtained from traffic accidents in the city of Porto Alegre between the years 2000 and 2008, and applying the generalized ordered logit. The results indicate that most of the victims injured in accidents are young drivers, males, motorcyclists and whose crash was a “collision with obstacles”. However, fatal victims have a different profile: they are pedestrians, over 60 years old. The most serious accidents occur in greater proportions at nights or weekends, at locations further away from the city center, which suggests behavior associated with high speed driving and the use of psychoactive substances, such as alcohol. The other two studies used data from a survey done with the population of Porto Alegre in 2009. The second study evaluates how socio-demographic characteristics, traffic experience and the information received about the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol, affect risk perception and behavior in the traffic. The results indicate that individuals who have greater risk of dying in traffic, underestimate their own risk and vice versa; and that young people as well as those who have been in an accident or those who spend a lot of time in traffic, have a greater perception of their risk. On the other hand, the risk of alcohol consumption associated with traffic, is perceived better by older people, women, non-drinkers, people without risky behavior, and those who are more aware of the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol. Similarly, risky behavior in traffic, related to alcohol consumption, is inversely proportional to perception of risk and to age. The third study estimated the respondents' willingness to pay ( ) for the reduction in their risk of suffering injuries in a traffic accident, as well as the value of a statistical life ( ), using linear and nonlinear models adjusted by the Box-Cox transformation. The results indicate that the decreases with age and with not using safety devices, but increases with income, exposure to traffic, and the accidents experience, for women and for those who have dependents. The average value elicited by to reduce to zero the risk of severe injuries that result in death, implied a of about R$13.4 million (US$ 7.3 million) - lower, but still a comparable value to that found in developed countries, and studied in Brazil.

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2018-05-03T16:54:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Vania Aparecida da Silva Figueiredo do Couto.pdf: 1308005 bytes, checksum: af7ac9cb95837a3e71bc27d5a020aef8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-03T16:54:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vania Aparecida da Silva Figueiredo do Couto.pdf: 1308005 bytes, checksum: af7ac9cb95837a3e71bc27d5a020aef8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-01 / This thesis was elaborated from three articles, with articles I and II, "Perception of risk under theoretical analysis" and "Perception of risk of young people involved in traffic accidents: a conceptual and statistical analysis", respectively, structured on the basis of secondary data, in which only theoretical aspects are discussed, while Article III "The relationship between personality and risk perception of motorcyclists in traffic" presented a descriptive study with primary data, in which primary results were presented as information base the university students of the City of Sinop-MT. This study had as general objective to know the main factors that constitute the risk perception of university students of Sinop-MT, in motorcycle traffic accidents in order to contribute to the development of accident prevention programs. To achieve the objective outlined in the thesis and in each of the articles (Article I - To know how the national and international literature describes the aspects that involve the perception of risk in traffic; Article II - To present the statistics at national, state and the study of the relationship between social - demographic variables and behavioral aspects, personality dimensions and the perception of risk of university motorcyclists), were compared with the obtained from the development of theoretical research and a research with empirical method, with quantitative analyzes. The results and discussions of the studies carried out allowed us to conclude that the risk perception of Sinop-MT students regarding traffic accidents with motorcycles has personality traits as one of the main factors, as well as the use of drugs and alcohol, along with the direction, besides the lack of knowledge about what is defensive driving and disrespect to traffic signaling / legislation, are factors that generate the high number of traffic accidents with motorcycles, so it is important to carry out studies and lectures awareness in motorcycle accident prevention programs. / Essa tese foi elaborada a partir de três artigos, com os artigos I e II, “A percepção de risco sob enfoque de análise teórica” e “Percepção de risco dos jovens envolvidos em acidentes de trânsito: uma análise conceitual e estatística”, respectivamente, est ruturados com base em dados secundários, em que são discutidos aspectos unicamente teóricos, enquanto o artigo III “A relação entre personalidade e percepção de risco de motociclistas no trânsito”, trouxe um estudo descritivo com dados primários, em que foram apresentados resultados primários, tendo como base informacional os universitários da Cidade de Sinop-MT. Assim, esse estudo teve como objetivo geral conhecer os principais fatores que constituem a percepção de risco de universitários de Sinop-MT, quanto aos acidentes de trânsito com motocicleta de forma a contribuir para a elaboração de programas de prevenção de acidentes. Para o alcance do objetivo traçado na tese e os objetivos em cada um dos artigos (Artigo I – Conhecer como a literatura nacional e internacional descrevem os aspectos que envolvem a percepção de risco no trânsito; Artigo II – Apresentar as estatísticas em nível nacional, de estado e município de Sinop-MT comparando os acidentes por categoria, faixa etária, sexo e escolaridade dos condutores; Artigo III – Analisar a relação entre as variáveis sociodemográficas e os aspectos comportamentais, as dimensões de personalidade e a percepção de risco de motociclistas universitários ), foram alcançados a partir do desenvolvimento de pesquisa teórica e uma pesquisa com método empírico, com análises quantitativas. Os resultados e discussões dos estudos realizados permitiram a conclusão de que a percepção de risco dos universitários de Sinop- MT no que se referem aos acidentes de trânsito com motocicleta tem os traços de personalidades como um dos principais fatores, bem como, o uso de medicamentos e álcool junto à direção, além do não conhecimento sobre o que é direção defensiva e desrespeito à sinalização/legislação de trânsito, são fatores que geram o elevado número de acidentes de trânsito com motocicletas, por isso é importante a execução de estudos e palestras de conscientização dos motociclistas, nos programas de prevenção de acidentes.

As coastal cities around the world identify and implement adaptations to sea level rise, they are faced with competing interests around what should be done and how to prioritize actions. Often, environmental problems--like confronting the challenge of sea level rise--are posed as requiring expert driven, technical solutions to identify and mitigate risks across the landscape. This framing, however, ignores the way in which diverse knowledge can help inform long-term planning horizons that address complex ways that sea level rise affects communities. The failure to integrate diverse knowledge into sea level rise adaptation can result in barriers to implementation and outcomes that can reproduce inequities. In environmental planning, knowledge integration challenges can stem from ambiguity around the construction of environmental risk knowledge, as well as institutional arrangements that inhibit diverse involvement. Ambiguity refers to a context in which there are different and sometimes conflicting views on how to understand the problem or system to be managed, for example, conflicts around what risks to measure and how to measure them. This manifests in the ways that different groups construct and use knowledge about risks. Often ignored in planning contexts and research on sea level rise adaptation, ambiguity--particularly around social risks--are critical to address, since they can determine whether diverse knowledge about risks are integrated or ignored in planning. This dissertation uses a case study of Miami-Dade County, Florida and is guided by the question: how do different groups understand risk within sea level rise, and what planning and governance factors influence the way diverse dimensions of risk are integrated into adaptation strategies? Findings from this case study suggest that baselines, projections, and the focus of risk rooted in an economic discourse based on short-term planning horizons and technical constructions of risk have more authority as compared with counter arguments around ecological and social risks. Recommendations include the need for transparent adaptation decisions and the inclusion of diverse stakeholders in the production of regional climate science, sea level rise assessments, and adaptation planning. A more integrated approach can better address diverse risks and facilitate long-term planning.

The study investigated three aspects related to smoking, namely, smoking behaviour, risk perception and attitudes to anti-smoking legislation. The theoretical framework of the study was the Information-Motivation-Behavioural (IMB) skills model. The study was a quantitative one, making use of a cross-sectional survey design to obtain data about the three variables of interest. Responses to statements about risk perception and attitudes to anti-smoking legislation in the questionnaire were arranged on a three-point Likert scale. The inferential statistics used were one-sample ttests and Chi-square analyses. The results showed an overall smoking prevalence of 16%, with twice as many females than males being smokers in the sample. ‘Coloured’ students in both genders had the highest smoking rate compared to all other race groups. The knowledge of the health risks of smoking were very high, however smokers had a lower perception of risk compared to non-smokers. Moreover, while there was a fair amount of support for anti-smoking legislation among smokers, smokers tended to show less support for legislation than non-smokers, especially to those parts of the legislation that affect them more directly. The results of the study indicate a clear connection between smoking behaviour and the effect it has on both risk perception as well as attitudes to anti-smoking legislation in individuals.

The overall aims of this thesis were to investigate psychological and behavioral effects of receiving cancer genetic counseling for breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer and/or with a family history of these cancer types and to determine whether counselees’ informational needs were met. Study I was performed 3-7 years post-counseling. Participants (n=214) reported a relatively high level of anxiety but a low level of depression compared to cancer patients in general. However, there was no indication that the distress experienced was due to the counseling. Moderate changes in life and family relations, high level of adherence to recommended controls and satisfaction was reported. Study II was a randomized control trial (RCT) intervention study which involved 147 counselees. An increase in the level of knowledge and correct estimation of personal risk was reported in both the intervention and control groups, although this increase declined at later follow-up. Enhanced information led to significantly greater satisfaction with the given information, and the way of informing relatives. Most counselees had shared information with their at-risk relatives. Study III focused on sharing information with at-risk relatives among participants in study II and their relatives (n=81). Counselees were interviewed and answered a questionnaire, whilst their relatives only answered the questionnaire. Counselees reported positive/neutral feelings about communicating genetic information and mostly interpreted their relatives’ reactions as positive/ neutral. Also, approximately 50% of relatives reported positive/neutral reactions and were generally satisfied with the received information. Study IV was conducted in Sweden and Norway based on 235 counselees. Counselees expected counselors to be skillful and thoughtful, take them seriously and provide risk estimations and medical information. Most important issues to counselees were satisfactorily addressed by the counselors. Analyzing importance rankings resulted in five categories of needs: a need for facts, caring communication and medical information, need for understanding and support in sharing genetic information, practical care and medical/practical information. In conclusion, no adverse psychological or behavioral effect on counselees was observed. Apparently, genetic counseling is managed properly and counselors successfully address counselees’ needs. Providing extended information does not seem necessary, however, tailoring information to individual counselees needs may create a more effective counseling.

The recent experience with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic has drawn attention to the need to better understand the public’s response to emergently released vaccines (ERV). This study applied a mixed methods approach to examine the causal pathways underlying the vaccination behaviour during a public health emergency. The integrated evidence from empirical and theoretical-based findings highlights a number of factors to consider in interventions to improve vaccination rates with an ERV. These factors include: 1) providing clear risk messages around the disease and the ERV, 2) improving accessibility to the vaccine, 3) encouraging primary healthcare providers to provide recommendations for vaccination, 4) implementing strategies to increase seasonal influenza vaccination prior to the next public health emergency, 5) developing strategies to target sub-populations more reluctant to accept an ERV. Developing theory-based interventions that are behaviour-specific may be more likely to result in behaviour change within the public in future emergency vaccination campaigns.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 323 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: This dissertation reports the activities, methods, and key findings of a doctoral research project in applied anthropology and an environmental anthropology fellowship. The research project was conducted through the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, while the fellowship was sponsored jointly by the Society for Applied Anthropology and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and was conducted through the Great Lakes Fellowship Program of the Great Lakes Commission, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Together, these projects demonstrated the utility of an ethnographic approach called Risk Perception Mapping (RPM) to the public consultation and social research interests of the Commission and its associated network of environmental management agencies and organizations. / Through consultation with these organizations I identified an environmental management problem to which anthropological perspectives and methods would be particularly well-suited: Can the undesirable social phenomenon of environmental discrimination be minimized by assuring greater equality in access to public participation in environmental management? To address this problem, I conducted an RPM demonstration project in a five county area surrounding the Fermi II nuclear power plant in southeastern Michigan. My research focused on cultural, geographical, and social-contextual factors that influence the nature and distribution of perceived risk among populations that are potentially affected by environmental management projects. Key findings pertain to perceptually-specific communities of environmental risk and have implications for what I call "participatory equity" in environmental management. / Potential applications to Great Lakes environmental management center on developing equitable population-specific exchanges of information through which more culturally sensitive indicators of Great Lakes ecosystem integrity may emerge. Anthropological contributions to public participation in environmental management are discussed with particular attention to anthropological perspectives on the multiple publics that comprise locally affected communities of environmental risk. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 200 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: How people pereceive the risks associated with natural hazards contributes to their willingness to take protective action. Such action may be constrained by prevailing socio-economic and place-specific conditions that restrict or inform the choice of protective measures available to the individual. Vulnerability to the impacts of extreme geophysical events increases when the range of alternatives is limited or misinformed. Many evacuees from a potentially violent volcanic eruption in Ecuador returned to their home town of Banos while it was still under an evacuation order in 2000 and considered to be a high risk area by officials. / ABSTRACT: The research examined four main questions: (1) What economic conditions confronted Baños evacuees? (2) What political or other social events occurred while they were evacuated that limited their perceived range of options? (3) What information was available about prior eruptions of the volcano and other local natural hazards? and (4) What were the characteristics of the economic base of Baños? These questions were investigated using data from interviews with evacuees, government and non-governmental officials, census and other statistical information, scholarly texts and newspaper reports. The research suggests that economic conditions made it extremely difficult for people to relocate to other communities. When a violent eruption did not occur immediately, and few direct impacts of the eruptions were experienced in Banos, many people chose to return home in an effort to reestablish themselves economically. / ABSTRACT: These people perceived the volcano hazard in Baños to be far less threatening than the economic destitution associated with evacuation. This perception may have been influenced by factors other than the socio-economic context, including efforts of political leaders and tourist business owners to effect the town's economic recovery. These efforts included an aggressive publicity campaign that minimized the risk posed by the volcano. Besides encouraging tourists to return, the campaign also encouraged evacuees to do so. Finally, among some residents, religious beliefs may have contributed to perceptions that they would not be harmed in the event of an explosive eruption. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis was interested in exploring the questions of why individuals typically do not respond strongly to climate change, and how individual motivations to do so might be strengthened. More specifically, this thesis explored two widely cited barriers to climate change action and the solutions commonly suggested to overcome them. The first barrier is the lack of personal experience with climate change, which is believed to inhibit relevant emotional processes. The second, not unrelated, barrier is that people typically perceive climate change as a distant threat, one that is not relevant to them personally, where they live, and in the present time. To test these explanations, two public surveys of residents of both the UK (n = 616) and Switzerland (n = 316) explored the relationships among negative emotions, perceptions of geographically proximal and distant climate change risks, and variables that capture people’s willingness to address climate change. The findings supported the idea that stronger negative emotions were positively related to more readiness to act against climate change. The relationship between spatially close versus distant risk perceptions and measures of different forms of action was, however, more complex. Specifically, the findings revealed a strong association between global risk perceptions and policy support and a strong association between local risk perceptions and personal intentions. One explanation for these (unexpected) associations is that they are due to spontaneous matches with regard to psychological distance: Local risk perceptions are psychologically proximal on the spatial dimension and personal intentions can be regarded as proximal on the social dimension. Likewise, the spatially remote global risk perceptions can be matched to support for policies, which can be regarded as distant on the social dimension. Studies 3 and 4 tried to experimentally untangle the complex relationships between psychological distance and people’s perceptions and actions that were 2 observed in the survey research. Specifically, in both studies participants were manipulated to adopt either a spatially proximal or distant perspective on climate change. Study 3 (n = 80) measured participants emotional responses to climate change and looked at how these predicted different attitudinal and behavioural responses under a proximal or distant framework, whereas Study 4 (n = 330) more directly explored the possible effects of activating negative emotions (i.e., fear) in combination with different distance frames as part of attempts to promote action on climate change. The findings of Studies 3 and 4 suggest that decreasing the psychological distance of climate change and inducing fear can both be potentially useful strategies to promote action on climate change. However, the operation of both these strategies is more complex than is often assumed and these complexities have implications for the effectiveness of each strategy. For one thing, both attempts to reduce distance and increase fear can initiate multiple psychological processes that simultaneously increase and decrease the likelihood of acting on climate change. Because these processes work in opposition, reduced distance and increased fear can have positive effects, negative effects, or no effect at all. Together, the findings across studies highlight that psychological distance is neither an insurmountable obstacle to action against climate change – it depends on what kind of action is being considered (Studies 1 & 2) – and nor is decreasing psychological distance a panacea to motivate action – this can trigger the same kind of defensiveness that have been observed in response to other strategies, such as the use of emotion (Studies 3 & 4). In the general discussion, the theoretical implications of these insights for different theoretical models of distance, emotion, and action are considered, as are the implications for the practice of promoting public engagement with and action on climate change.