1991/03/01 by Karl Dake · 3 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Risk Perception and Management #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Egalitarianism #Social psychology #Ideology #Perception #Individualism #Psychology #Personality #Politics #Risk perception #Sociology #Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory #Epistemology #Political science
paper · doi:10.1177/0022022191221006
openalex publication_date 1991/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Cultural biases based on the anthropological work of Mary Douglas and her colleagues are compared to contemporary worldviews deriving from a psychological approach to the issues of risk and culture. It is argued that these orienting dispositions guide the perception of risk at both the collective and individual levels, with cultural biases referring to shared beliefs and values, and contemporary worldviews representing a person's way of responding to controversies over technology and society. Drawing on day-long assessments of 300 San Francisco Bay area citizens, it is shown that the cultural biases of Hierarchy, Individualism, and Egalitarianism are predictive of distinctive rankings of possible dangers and preferences for risk taking at the societal level. Findings on the relations among personality, political ideology, and orienting dispositions advance and clarify a research agenda linking individuals, social structures, and cultural biases.