Numeracy and the Perception and Communication of Risk

In the present paper, I focus on a small but important piece of the risk communication/perception puzzle, namely how individuals who differ in number ability comprehend and use numeric information about risks differently. Highly numerate individuals appear to pay more attention to numbers, better co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2008-04, Vol.1128 (1), p.1-7
Main Author: Peters, Ellen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication
Comprehension
Decision Making
Decision Support Techniques
dual process model
Environment
Humans
Information Dissemination
numeracy
Perception
Public Opinion
Risk
Risk Assessment
risk communication
Risk Management
risk perception
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the present paper, I focus on a small but important piece of the risk communication/perception puzzle, namely how individuals who differ in number ability comprehend and use numeric information about risks differently. Highly numerate individuals appear to pay more attention to numbers, better comprehend them, translate them into meaningful information, and ultimately use them in decisions. Decisions of the less numerate are informed less by numbers and more by other non‐numeric sources of information, such as their emotions, mood states, and trust or distrust in science, the government, and experts. Careful attention to information presentation, however, allows the less numerate to understand and use numbers more effectively in decisions. As a result, the challenge is not merely to communicate accurate information to the public but to understand how to present that information so that it is used in risky decisions.
ISSN:0077-8923
1749-6632
1930-6547
DOI:10.1196/annals.1399.001