Optimism bias about environmental degradation: The role of the range of impact of precautions

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Volumn 21, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 17-30

  Hatfield, Julie ^a   Job, R F Soames ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0347748094     PISSN: 02724944     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1006/jevp.2000.0190     Document Type: Article

References (61)

1. Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
2. Baird, B. N. R. (1986). Tolerance for environmental health risks: The influence of knowledge, benefits, voluntariness, and environmental attitudes. Risk Analysis, 6, 425-435.
3. Blalock, S. J., De Velis, B. M., Afifi & Sander, R. A. (1990). Risk perceptions and participation in colorectoral cancer screening. Health Psychology, 9, 792-806.
4. Blocker, T. J. & Eckberg, D. L. (1989). Issues: General concerns and local hazards. Social Science Quarterly, 70, 586-593.
5. Burger, J. M. & Cooper, H. M. (1979). The desirability of control. Motivation & Emotion, 3, 381-393.
6. Darley, J. M. & Latane, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies; Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 8, 377-383.
7. Eiser, J. R., Reicher, S. D. & Podpadec, T. J. (1994). Awareness of bad news, environmental attitudes, and subjective estimates of coastal pollution. Risk Analysis, 14, 945-948.
8. Eiser, J. R., Eiser, C., Sani, F., Sell, L. & Casas, R. M. (1995). Skin cancer attitudes: A cross-national comparison. British Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 23-30.
9. Ellen, P. S. (1994). Do we know what we need to know? Objective and subjective knowledge effects on proecological behaviors. Journal of Business Research, 30, 43-52.
10. Eulefeld, G. (1990). Umwelterziehung als umfassende Aufgabe. In Bundesminister fur Bildung und Wissenschaft, Bonn, (Ed.), Umweltbildung in der EG. Bad Honnef: Bock.
11. Finger, M. (1994). From knowledge to action? Exploring the relationships between environmental experiences, learning and behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 50, 141-160.
12. Fridgen, C. (1994). Human disposition towards hazards: Testing the Environmental Appraisal Inventory. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 14, 101-111.
13. Gardner, G. T., Tiemann, A. R., Gould, L. C., DeLuca, D. R., Doob, L. W. & Stolwijk, J. A. J. (1982). Risk and benefit perceptions, acceptability judgements and self-reported actions toward nuclear power. The Journal of Social Psychology, 116, 179-197.
14. Geller, E. S. (1995). Actively caring for the environment: An integration of behaviorism and humanism. Environment and Behavior, 27, 184-195.
15. Gladis, M. M., Michela, J. L., Walter, H. J. & Vaughan, R. D. (1992). High school students’ perceptions of AIDS risk: Realistic appraisal or motivated denial? Health Psychology, 11, 307-316.
16. Gooch, G. D. (1995). Environmental beliefs and attitudes in Sweden and the Baltic states. Environment and Behavior, 27, 513-539.
17. Harris, P. (1996). Sufficient grounds for optimism?: The relationship between perceived controllability and optimistic bias. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15, 9-52.
18. Harvey, M. L. & Bell, P. A. (1995). The moderating effect of threat on the relationship between population concern and environmental concern. Population and Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 17, 123-133.
19. Hine, D. W. & Gifford, R. (1991). Fear appeals, individual differences and environmental concern. Journal of Environmental Education, 23, 36-41.
20. Holtgrave, D. R., Tinsley, B. J. & Kay, L. S. (1994). Heuristics, biases and environmental health risk analysis. In L. Heath et al., (Eds), Applications of Heuristics and Biases to Social Issues. New York: Plenum Press.
21. Hoorens, V. & Buunk, B. P. (1993). Social comparison of health risks: Locus of control, the person-positivity bias, and unrealistic optimism. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23, 291-302.
22. Howe, H. L. (1992). Public concern about chemicals in the environment: Regional differences based on threat potential. Public Health Reports, 105, 186-195.
23. Janz, N. K. & Becker, M. H. (1984). The health belief model: A decade later, Health Education Quarterly, 11, 1-47.
24. Jenkins-Smith, H. & Basset, G. (1994). Perceived risk and uncertainty of nuclear waste: Differences among science, business and environmental group members. Risk Analysis, 14, 851-856.
25. Jianguang, Z. (1994). Environmental hazards in the Chinese public’s eyes. Risk Analysis, 14, 163-167.
26. Job, R. F. S. & Bullen, R. B. (1987). The effects of a face to face interview versus a group administered questionnaire in determining reaction to noise. Journal of Sound & Vibration, 116, 161-168.
27. Job, R. F. S., Hamer, V. & Walker, M. (1995). The effects of optimism bias and fear on protective behaviour. In D. Kenny & R. F. S. Job, (Eds), Australia’s Adolescents: A Health Psychology Perspective. Armidale, NSW: New England University Press, pp 151-156.
28. Kirscht, J. P., Haefner, D. P., Kegeles, F. S. & Rosenstock, I. M. (1966). A national study of health beliefs. Journal of Health & Human Behavior, 7, 248-254.
29. Klein, W. M. (1997). Objective standards are not enough: Affective, self-evaluative, and behavioral responses to social comparison information. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 72, 763-774.
30. Kulik, J. A. & Mahler, H. I. M. (1987). Health status, perceptions of risk, and prevention interest for health and nonhealth problems. Health Psychology, 6, 15-27.
31. Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. New York: McGraw Hill.
32. Lee, S. H. V. & Job, R. F. S. (1995). The effect of information on optimism bias. In D. T. Kenny & R. F. S. Job, (Eds), Australia’s Adolescent: A Health Psychology Perspective. Armidale: University of New England Press, pp. 157-162.
33. Murray, D. M. & Perry, C. L. (1987). The measurement of substance use among adolescents: When is the ’bogus pipeline’ method needed. Addictive Behaviours, 12, 225-233.
34. Perloff, L. S. & Fetzer, B. K. (1986). Self-other judgements and perceived vulnerability to victimization. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 50, 502-510.
35. Piliavin, I. M., Rodin, J. & Piliavin, J. A. (1969). Good samaritanism: An underground phenomenon? Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 13, 289-299.
36. Reynolds, W. M. (1982). Development of reliable and valid short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 119-125.
37. Rogers, R. W. (1983). A protection motivation theory of fear appeals and attitude change: A revised theory of fear appeals and attitude change, Journal of Psychology, 91, 93-114.
38. Schmidt, F. N. & Gifford, R. (1989). A dispositional approach to hazard perception: Preliminary development of the environmental appraisal inventory. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 9, 57-67.
39. Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65.
40. Stern, P. C. (1996). Paper presented at The 26th International Congress of Psychology, Montreal, Canada, 1996. Unpublished.
41. Stern, P. C. & Dietz, T. (1994). The value basis of environmental concern. Journal of Social Issues, 50, 65-84.
42. Stern, P. C., Dietz, T. & Kalof, L. (1993). Value orientations, gender, and environmental concern. Environment and Behavior, 25, 1611-1636.
43. Stern, P. C., Dietz, T., Kalof, L. & Guagnano, G. A. (1995). Value, beliefs, and proenvironmental action: Attitude formation toward emergent attitude objects. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1611-1636.
44. Sutton, S. R. (1982). Fear arousing communications: A critical examination of theory and research. In J. R. Eiser, (Ed.), Social psychology and behavioural medicine, New York: Wiley pp. 303-338.
45. Uzzell, D. L. (2000). The Psycho-Spatial Dimension to Global Environmental Problems. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 20, 307-318.
46. van der Velde, F. W., van der Pligt, J. & Hooykaas, C. (1992). Risk perception and behavior: Pessimism, realism, and optimism about AIDS-related health behavior. Psychology and Health, 6, 23-38.
47. van der Velde, F.W., van der Pligt, J. & Hooykaas, C. (1994). Perceiving AIDS-related risk: Accuracy as a function of differences in actual risk. Health Psychology, 13, 25-33.
48. Weinstein, N. D. (1980). Unrealistic optimism about future life events. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 39, 806-820.
49. Weinstein, N. D. (1982). Unrealistic optimism about susceptibility to health problems. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 5, 441-460.
50. Weinstein, N. D. (1983). Reducing unrealistic optimism about illness susceptibility. Health Psychology, 2, 11-20.
51. Weinstein, N. D. (1984). Why it won’t happen to me: Perceptions of risk factors and susceptibility. Health Psychology, 3, 431-457.
52. Weinstein, N. D. (1987). Unrealistic optimism about susceptibility to health problems: Conclusions from a community-wide sample. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 10, 481-500.
53. Weinstein, N. D. (1988). The precaution adoption process. Health Psychology, 7, 355-386.
54. Weinstein, N. D. (1989a). Effects of personal experience on self-protective behaviour. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 31-50.
55. Weinstein, N. D. (1989b). Perceptions of personal harm. In V. M. Mays, G. W. Albee & S. F. Schneider, (Eds), Primary Prevention of AIDs: Psychological Approaches. Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications.
56. Weinstein, N. D. (1993). Testing four competing theories of health protective behavior. Health Psychology, 12, 234-333.
57. Weinstein, N. D. & Lachendro, E. (1982). Egocentrism as a source of unrealistic optimism. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 195-200.
58. Weinstein, N. D., Sandman, P. M. & Klotz, M. L. (1988). Optimistic biases in public perceptions of the risk from radon. American Journal of Public Health, 78, 796-800.
59. Weinstein, N. D., Sandman, P. M. & Roberts, N. E. (1990). Determinants of self-protective behavior: home radon testing. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 783-801.
60. Weinstein, N. D. & Sandman, P. M. (1992). A model of the precaution adoption process: Evidence from home radon testing. Health Psychology, 11, 170-180.
61. Wurtele, S. K. & Maddux, J. E. (1987). Relative contributions of protective motivation theory components in predicting exercise intensions and behaviour. Health Psychology, 6, 453-466.