Hi Michael I study risk perception and I have also been noticing the types of things people have said about living there or their unwillingness to seek shelter. There is quite a bit of research on the perceived risk of natural disasters.
Briefly, tornados are a good example of a risk that is present but hard to quantify and particularly impossible to figure out how it might affect you. This was particular true with Three Mile Island where no one knew the risk (see lots of info here http://www.threemileisland.org/). Some people are risk averse and they might move out of a high risk area (so the people who are left are those who are not so worried) or take extra precautions (perceived control over avoiding adverse outcomes is an important psychological variable). Personal experience also plays an important role. There are tornados all the time just like there are earthquakes all the time (I lived in LA for many years) so people have lots of experience with the event when it does not result in injuries or deaths. These personal experiences can support the belief that deaths/injuries are the vast exception (which of course they are) and that precautions are not that important. In general, direct personal experience with an event (and its negative consequences) is associated with increased precautions. One interesting aspect with respect to perceived control is that you can take personal and societal precautions that reduce the risk. The reason there are relatively few deaths as a result of earthquakes in California (for example) is because of very strict building codes that prevent individuals (buyers or builders) from using their (misguided) individual risk perception to cut corners. But from media reports from Oklahoma it sounds like people have consistently rejected requiring new homes to have safe rooms (or basements) or requiring old schools to be fitted with safe rooms. Marie Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor l Department of Psychology Kaufman 168 l Dickinson College Phone 717.245.1562 l Fax 717.245.1971 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.htm -----Original Message----- From: Michael Britt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 03, 2013 6:56 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Three Mile Island Study Okay, let's see who has the best memory: I know there was a study in which people who lived near three mile island were interviewed about the dangers of living there and they all downplayed or rationalized their unwillingness to move. Does anyone remember more about that study? I just saw an interview with a woman who's house was destroyed by a tornado and the reasons she gave for not wanting to get out of "tornado alley" were completely irrational and they reminded me of that study. Michael Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. [email protected] http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a4468797f&n=T&l=tips&o=25868 or send a blank email to leave-25868-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=25870 or send a blank email to leave-25870-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
