Wiedemann Peter M, Freudenstein Frederik, Böhmert Christoph, Wiart Joe, Croft Rodney J
School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong Campus, NSW 2522, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Jun 8;14(6):620. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14060620.
An implicit assumption of risk perception studies is that concerns expressed in questionnaires reflect concerns in everyday life. The aim of the present study is to check this assumption, i.e., the extrapolability of risk perceptions expressed in a survey, to risk perceptions in everyday life. To that end, risk perceptions were measured by a multidimensional approach. In addition to the traditional focus on measuring the magnitude of risk perceptions, the thematic relevance (how often people think about a risk issue) and the discursive relevance (how often people think about or discuss a risk issue) of risk perceptions were also collected. Taking into account this extended view of risk perception, an online survey was conducted in six European countries with 2454 respondents, referring to radio frequency electromagnetic field (RF EMF) risk potentials from base stations, and access points, such as WiFi routers and cell phones. The findings reveal that the present study's multidimensional approach to measuring risk perception provides a more differentiated understanding of RF EMF risk perception. High levels of concerns expressed in questionnaires do not automatically imply that these concerns are thematically relevant in everyday life. We use thematic relevance to distinguish between enduringly concerned (high concern according to both questionnaire and thematic relevance) and not enduringly concerned participants (high concern according to questionnaire but no thematic relevance). Furthermore, we provide data for the empirical value of this distinction: Compared to other participants, enduringly concerned subjects consider radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure to a greater extent as a moral and affective issue. They also see themselves as highly exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic fields. However, despite these differences, subjects with high levels of thematic relevance are nevertheless sensitive to exposure reduction as a means for improving the acceptance of base stations in their neighborhood. This underlines the value of exposure reduction for the acceptance of radio frequency electromagnetic field communication technologies.
风险认知研究的一个隐含假设是，问卷中表达的担忧反映了日常生活中的担忧。本研究的目的是检验这一假设，即调查中表达的风险认知能否外推至日常生活中的风险认知。为此，采用了多维方法来测量风险认知。除了传统上侧重于测量风险认知的程度外，还收集了风险认知的主题相关性（人们思考风险问题的频率）和话语相关性（人们思考或讨论风险问题的频率）。考虑到这种对风险认知的扩展观点，在六个欧洲国家对2454名受访者进行了一项在线调查，涉及基站以及WiFi路由器和手机等接入点的射频电磁场（RF EMF）风险潜力。研究结果表明，本研究测量风险认知的多维方法能更有区分地理解射频电磁场风险认知。问卷中表达的高度担忧并不自动意味着这些担忧在日常生活中具有主题相关性。我们利用主题相关性来区分持续关注的参与者（根据问卷和主题相关性均为高度关注）和非持续关注的参与者（根据问卷为高度关注但无主题相关性）。此外，我们提供了这一区分的实证数据：与其他参与者相比，持续关注的受试者在更大程度上将射频电磁场暴露视为一个道德和情感问题。他们也认为自己高度暴露于射频电磁场中。然而，尽管存在这些差异，但具有高主题相关性的受试者对减少暴露作为提高其所在社区对基站接受度的一种手段仍然很敏感。这突出了减少暴露对于接受射频电磁场通信技术的价值。
