What can be learned about the public’s perception of terrorism risk?
Rosoff H*, John R; University of Southern California rosoff@usc.edu Abstract: Traditional risk perception approaches base their analyses on mean risk ratings, rather than individual subject ratings. This produces results that hide individual risk perception differences and generates patterns that may not be representative of any individual or of a majority of individuals in a sample. Our study focused on mapping the mental models of individual subject’s risk perceptions of terror and non-terror events. Data was collected through an evaluation of the perceived risk relationships across various event characteristics, both cognitive and emotional. Researchers also investigated whether perceived risk perceptions vary by subgroups defined in terms of demographic variables. The study design employed hierarchical linear modeling and used a heterogeneous sample (roughly 1,000 subjects) to allow for a systematic investigation of general and subgroup risk relationships. Study results suggest tha
