Risk

CSU ( csu@brain.wph.uq.oz.au )
10 Oct 1995 16:00:38 -0500

On 5 Oct 1995 Lindsay Oades wrote:

>I have been toying with a definition of risk in PCP terms.
>Threat comes to mind immediately. However I believe that it is
>not synonomous with how we generally use the term risk. Is the
>notion of perceived risk the same as a high level of awareness
>of possible threat- and how does the choice corollary help here?
>I would appreciate any ideas on this one.

A few suggestions:

If risk is framed in terms of judgment/decision making, the C-P-C
(circumspection-preemption-control) cycle may be worth a look. If
sexual risk taking is conceived of as a form of anticipation,
then read most of Kelly and others. The issue might then be one
constructs. Is the supplied construct of risk a consideration
for people or are their actions based on other more personally
meaningful constructs? Risk for some may not even be a major
consideration. Alternatively, why not do a feasibility study and
explore individual conceptions of risk.

I think there might be some value in having a look at:

Kelly G (1969). Ontological Acceleration, in Maher B (ed).
Clinical Psychology and Personality: The Selected Papers of
George Kelly. John Wiley, New York.

You might also find some of the decision making literature
interesting:

Jungermann, H (1986). Two camps on Rationality in, Arkes H and
Hammond K (eds). Judgment and Decision Making: An
Interdisciplinary Reader. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

Kahneman D and Tversky A (1984). On the Psychology of
Prediction, in Kahneman D, Slovic P and Tversky A (eds).
Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kahneman D and Tversky A (1986). Choices, Values and Frames, in
Arkes H and Hammond K (eds). Judgment and Decision Making:
An Interdisciplinary Reader. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

Brearley C (1982). Risk and Social Work. Routledgeand Kegan
Paul, London.

Regards,

Bob Green

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