Cultural theory and individual perceptions of environmental risks

Understanding differences in environmental risk perception and risk judgmen ts might facilitate the development of effective environmental risk managem ent strategies, including risk communication. Cultural theory holds that sy stematic individual differences exist in the perception of environmental ri sks based on four different myths of nature: nature benign, nature ephemera l, nature perverse/tolerant, and nature capricious. The myths of nature rep resent distinct perceptions toward environmental risks, which are assumed t o be closely related to preferences for appropriate risk management strateg ies. The authors examined to what extent myths of nature are related to bel iefs associated with problems of car use and preferences for strategies to manage these problems. As hypothesized, significant variations in perceptio ns, preferences, and policy evaluations were found among respondents favori ng different myths of nature. Nature ephemeral was associated with a higher problem awareness and a more positive evaluation of policy measures, espec ially in comparison to nature benign.