Premium
Salient Value Similarity, Social Trust, and Risk/Benefit Perception
Author(s) -
Siegrist Michael,
Cvetkovich George,
Roth Claudia
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
risk analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1539-6924
pISSN - 0272-4332
DOI - 10.1111/0272-4332.203034
Subject(s) - salient , similarity (geometry) , value (mathematics) , perception , risk perception , psychology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , machine learning , neuroscience , image (mathematics)
It was postulated that shared values determine social trust in institutions and persons related to a technology: One has trust in people holding similar salient values. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that social trust has a positive influence on perceived benefits and a negative impact on perceived risks. Results of a survey of University of Zürich students indicated that the proposed causal model explained perception of pesticides, nuclear power, and artificial sweetener very well. When social trust was controlled, the relation between risks and benefits perceived diminished. Results indicate that social trust is a key predictive factor of the perceived risks and benefits of a technology, and provide support for the salient values similarity theory of social trust.