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Responses to the Michelangelo Computer Virus Threat: The Role of Information Sources and Risk Homeostasis Theory 1
Author(s) -
Sawyer John E.,
Kernan Mary C.,
Conlon Donald E.,
Garland Howard
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb01373.x
Subject(s) - perception , risk perception , psychology , population , social psychology , period (music) , medicine , environmental health , neuroscience , physics , acoustics
Computer users were surveyed before and after the Michelangelo trigger date (March 6, 1992) to examine risk perceptions and performance of risky and protective behaviors. Consistent with Risk Homeostasis theory, population risk perceptions changed over the course of the risk period, while personal risk perceptions remained unchanged. Protective behaviors also changed over the virus threat period and were dependent on the passage of the virus trigger date, prior virus experience, and experience during the period of the risk event. This study: (a) provides a scaling of risky and protective behaviors that others may use in future research, (b) suggests a more vivid picture of risk related behavior can be obtained by evaluating personal versus population risk perceptions and risky versus protective behaviors separately, and (c) suggests that training to reduce risks will be most effective if focused on behaviors that are least central to work activities.