ON THE USE OF A RISK LADDER - LINKING PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INDOOR AIR WITH COGNITIVE ELEMENTS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD RISK REDUCTION

In recent years a number of building managers have invested small amou nts of money to measure indoor air quality in offices and other non-in dustrial buildings. Their objective is to reduce the number of occupan t complaints, and not necessarily to reduce the risk associated with s uch complaints. Clearly, reduction of the risk would require greater i nvestment of funds and effort. This paper focuses on individuals and t he amount of money they are willing to invest in order to reduce risks associated with indoor air pollution in their home. Psychologists ass ert that lay judgement of risks are influenced by cognitive biases and attitudes. This study investigates the possibility that cognitive ele ments and general attitudes influence not only the perceived risk asso ciated with exposures to indoor air pollutants, but also the willingne ss of individuals to invest in order to reduce the risk. A three-stage study was performed to determine some of the factors that influence p ublic decisions to control the quality of the air inside their home. T he study is focused on the design of a risk ladder, and the survey of 400 randomly selected individuals in the Chicago metropolitan area. Th e survey was designed to determine if demographics, smoking, education , or income influence the desire of individuals to invest in order to reduce indoor air pollution. The following conclusions were reached: ( i) public awareness of indoor air pollution is high; (ii) media campai gns on indoor air pollution affect the determination of the specific p ollutant the public perceives as important, but do not influence the p ublic's desire to invest larger amounts of money to reduce risks from exposures to air pollutants in the residential environment; (iii) the public is not willing to spend large amounts of money to reduce indoor residential air pollution; (iv) education does not affect the level o f awareness regarding indoor air pollution, but it increases the willi ngness to invest in an effort to reduce indoor air pollution; and (v) smoking status does not affect any of the above.