A Psychological Study of the Inverse Relationship Between Perceived Risk and Perceived Benefit

TLDR

Risk and benefit judgments are inversely related, with high‑risk activities perceived as low‑benefit and vice versa. The study investigates this inverse relationship between risk and benefit judgments using two distinct measures of their association. Participants assessed risk and benefit for various activities, and the researchers computed two statistical measures of their relationship. The inverse relationship is robust, reflecting a confounding of risk and benefit in people’s minds that is linked to overall evaluation of an activity or technology, with theoretical and practical implications discussed.

Abstract

Judgments of risk and judgments of benefit have been found to be inversely related. Activities or technologies that are judged high in risk tend to be judged low in benefit, and vice versa. In the present study, we examine this inverse relationship in detail, using two measures of relationship between risk and benefit. We find that the inverse relationship is robust and indicative of a confounding of risk and benefit in people's minds. This confounding is linked to a person's overall evaluation of an activity or technology. Theoretical and practical implications of this risk‐benefit confounding are discussed.