IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jriskr/v2y1999i2p167-180.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public trust in sources of information about radiation risks in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Hunt
  • Lynn J. Frewer

Abstract

Perceptions of trust have been identified as important in the risk communication process. This research is concerned with establishing the degree of trust non-experts in radiation place in various sources of information about different radiation hazards. Participants were asked directly about the degree to which they would trust information about radiation risks from a variety of sources, including a totally fictitious source included as a control. They were also asked about the degree to which they believed each source had a vested interest in misinforming the public about the risks from radiation, and the degree of knowledge they believed each source had about the risks from radiation. The results indicated that while perceptions of 'vested interest' and 'degree of knowledge' are important elements in determining levels of trust, neither by itself is sufficient to guarantee high degrees of trust in any given source. The fictitious source received a very high degree of knowledge rating. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact the name of a source alone can have on perceptions of trust in a risk information source, and implications for developing effective risk communication about radiation risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Hunt & Lynn J. Frewer, 1999. "Public trust in sources of information about radiation risks in the UK," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 167-180.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:2:y:1999:i:2:p:167-180
    DOI: 10.1080/136698799376916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/136698799376916
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/136698799376916?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Annukka Vainio & Riikka Paloniemi & Vilja Varho, 2017. "Weighing the Risks of Nuclear Energy and Climate Change: Trust in Different Information Sources, Perceived Risks, and Willingness to Pay for Alternatives to Nuclear Power," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 557-569, March.
    2. Michael Siegrist & Timothy C. Earle & Heinz Gutscher, 2003. "Test of a Trust and Confidence Model in the Applied Context of Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Risks," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 705-716, August.
    3. Mah, Daphne Ngar-yin & Hills, Peter & Tao, Julia, 2014. "Risk perception, trust and public engagement in nuclear decision-making in Hong Kong," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 368-390.
    4. Stacey M. Conchie & Calvin Burns, 2009. "Improving occupational safety: using a trusted information source to communicate about risk," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 13-25, January.
    5. Branden B. Johnson, 2012. "Experience with Urban Air Pollution in Paterson, New Jersey and Implications for Air Pollution Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 39-53, January.
    6. Ngar-yin Mah, Daphne & Hills, Peter, 2014. "Participatory governance for energy policy-making: A case study of the UK nuclear consultation in 2007," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 340-351.
    7. Timothy C. Earle, 2004. "Thinking Aloud about Trust: A Protocol Analysis of Trust in Risk Management," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 169-183, February.
    8. Alex G. Stewart & Paolo Luria & John Reid & Mary Lyons & Richard Jarvis, 2010. "Real or Illusory? Case Studies on the Public Perception of Environmental Health Risks in the North West of England," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-21, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:2:y:1999:i:2:p:167-180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJRR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.