Meaningful Public Involvement and Descriptive Risk Communication: Effects on the Public’s Acceptance of ‘Risky’ Decisions. J. L. Arvai, U.B.C. EcoRisk Research Unit
A benefit of meaningful public involvement (MPI) in risk management is the belief that resulting policies will be widely accepted as the degree to which conflicting objectives are given balanced review is thought to be central to the legitimacy of decisions. This is clearest in a prescriptive sense (as policy alternatives are created and selected) when considering the relatively few participants in the process (experts, stakeholders, etc.). The implications of MPI are less clear in a descriptive (post-decision) risk communication context. This is because information about the nature of MPI processes aimed at most people (those who did not participate) must be built into risk communication outputs - outputs that have, by and large, been unable to alter people’s perception of risks. Questions can therefore be raised about the implications of descriptive risk communication outputs that, in addition to providing technical information also describe MPI, in terms of their ability to incite among people feelings of satisfaction with and acceptance of risk management decisions. To test this, 3 fact sheets dealing with NASA’s Cassini mission were modified to cast the decision to use RTGs as the product of MPI during decision making. 181 subjects read these while another 197 subjects read 3 unmodified (UM) fact sheets. Subjects’ responses showed that, compared to people in the UM condition, MPI subjects (1) were more supportive of the Cassini mission; (2) were more satisfied with the manner in which the decision to use RTGs was made; and (3) judged the risks from RTGs to be lower. These results suggest that information about MPI during decision making may work to lower people’s perceptions of risks making them more willing to accept the outcomes of risk management processes.
Work supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Go to . . .
2000 SRA Annual Meeting Table of Contents
2000 SRA Annual Meeting Author Index
Main Abstracts Menu Page
RiskWorld Home Page