From the Editors

Perception The concept of risk is highly complex. Our understanding of the complexity of the concept has increased as specialists in different disciplines have investigated what we mean when we refer to risk. Risk communication initiatives must be designed to ensure that the messages target individual groups within the population. To do this one must first find ways of segregating individual differences and needs, and then include the real concerns of the public in the risk information provided. People tend to be particularly resistant to the idea that they are at risk from any particular hazard. Most people believe that they are in less danger than the average individual, with a lower than average likelihood of dying from a heart attack, a lower probability of being burned, or of becoming addicted to drugs; they tend to feel infallible. For example, virtually all individuals believe that they drive their vehicles better than average; or that they have less likelihood of getting cancer than the average person. This unreal optimism is based on the information available and on a reasoning process that induces us to think that the hazard in question is not a real threat, even though it may affect persons known to us. All of this influences people's response to risk. The message " this includes you " is more difficult to get across than " many will die. " Perception is an important factor to be taken into account when communicating risks. Studies by anthropologists and sociologists have shown that risk perception and the acceptance of a risk have their roots in cultural and social factors. It has been argued that the response to a hazard is among the social influences transmitted by friends, family, colleagues, and respected public officials. In many cases, however, the perception of risk can be formed through a process of reasoning on the part of the individual himself/herself. It is important to transmit information about the magnitude of the risk so that people may become aware of risks that they had never heard of before; while information about personal vulnerability is important for the transition from awareness to the decision to act. The decision to act is not, however, the same thing as acting. Since most people are concerned about the same things that concern their friends, they are alert and responsive when presented with evidence that a particular hazard may (or may not) …