- Title
- Changing perception of average person's risk does not suffice to change perception of comparative risk
- Creator
- Aucote, Helen; Gold, Ron
- Date
- 2008
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/56483
- Identifier
- vital:2956
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1080/13548500701694227
- Identifier
- ISSN:1465-3966
- Abstract
- The direct method of assessing "unrealistic optimisim" employs a question of the form, "Compared with the average person, what is the chance that event X will occur to you?" It has been proposed that when individuals construct their responses to this question (direct-estimates) they focus much more strongly on estimates of their own risk (self-estimates) than on estimates of the average person's risk (other-estimates). A challenge to this proposal comes from findings that interventions that alter other-estimates also change direct-estimates. Employing a novel intervention technique, we tested the possibility that such interventions may indirectly also change self-estimates and that this is what accounts for their effect on dierct-estimates. Study 1 (n = 58) showed that an intervention which was designed to (and did) affect other-estimates also affected self-estimates, while Study 2 (n = 101) showed that it affected direct-estimates. Study 3 (n = 79) confirmed that we could modify the intervention so as to maintain the effect on other-estimates, but eliminate that on self-estimates. Study 4 (n = 112) demonstrated that when this was done, there was no longer any effect on direct-estimates. The findings are consistent with the proposal that dierct-estimates are constructed largely just out of self-estimates. Implications for health education programs are discussed.; C1
- Publisher
- London Routledge
- Relation
- Psychology, Health and Medicine Vol. 13, no. 4 (2008), p. 461-470
- Rights
- Copyright Routledge
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- 1701 Psychology; Unrealistic; Optimism; Direct-estimates; Self-estimates
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