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An Existential Approach to Risk Perception
Author(s) -
Langford Ian H.
Publication year - 2002
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.t01-1-00009
Subject(s) - existentialism , perception , humanity , perspective (graphical) , risk perception , social psychology , isolation (microbiology) , psychology , sociology , epistemology , political science , law , computer science , philosophy , artificial intelligence , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , biology
Existential, or existential‐phenomenological philosophical approaches to the social psychology of risk perception provide a novel framework for understanding issues that are common to all humanity, such as fear of death, freedom and responsibility, isolation and meaninglessness, as these anxieties are a function of existing, or being‐in‐the‐world. These fundamental anxieties can be related theoretically to the ways people perceive risks within social and cultural milieus, and can also be used practically within case studies, as demonstrated in the three examples presented, which examine perceptions of climate change, food‐related risks, and environmental awareness via a mixture of quantitative and qualitative techniques. The discussion focuses on the possible insights that can be gained from taking an existential perspective on risk perception, and relates notions of contemporary technologically‐oriented societies to the existential challenges faced by individuals and societies in the contemporary world.