위험인식의 특성과 의미: 한국인의 기술위험 인지도에 대한 Psychometric 분석

A survey of risk perception in South Korea was conducted in 2007 to evaluate relative riskiness of typical industrial andtechnological risks. This article summarizes the characteristics of risk perception using psychometric analyses. The survey with a sample sizeof 1,194 reviews the perceived level of 25 risk items in the areas of transportation, chemicals, environment, industry, nuclear powergeneration, and newly-introduced risks. Six categories of risk identified by a factor analysis show that the level of perceived risk does notcorrespond to the statistical level. Psychometric analyses including voluntariness, severity, effect manifestation, exposure pattern,controllability, familiarity, benefit and necessity demonstrate that voluntary, familiar and immediate risks are perceived as less risky thaninvoluntary, unfamiliar and delayed ones. Risk communication is critical in reducing the discrepance between objective and subjective levelof risk. However, the amount of risk information does not always justify a successful risk communication. A safety policy, riskcommunication strategy in particular, should take into account diverse dimensions of risk reviewed by psychometric analyses in the study.
Social policy toward safety can be improved by integrating policy, human, and social factors as well as technological advances