Abstract

GUEDEZ, Ana Gabriela. Societal risk perception by laypersons living in Venezuela. A Latin countries comparison. Univ. Psychol. [online]. 2016, vol.15, n.3, pp.1-8. ISSN 1657-9267.  https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy15-3.srpl.

The present study presents the mean risk magnitude judgments on 91 activities, substances, and technologies expressed by Venezuelan adults living in the two main cities of this country: Caracas and Maracaibo. These judgments were compared methodically with findings on other samples of previous studies, namely four other Latin countries: France, Spain, Brazil, and Portugal. The aim of this study was to structure the cross-country differences in risk perception between the aforementioned countries and Venezuela using cluster analysis. A 91-hazard x 5 country matrix was created. Two main clusters were found. The Economically and Socially Challenging group (Venezuela and Portugal) and the Western Europe group (France and Spain). Brazil was situated closer to the Venezuelan and Portugal cluster than was the Western Europe group. The common denominator in the Economically and Socially Challenging group can be the economic and social problems that both of these countries struggle against. It was reasonable that Brazil was closer to this cluster, given its similarities to both countries (in geographical and cultural terms). More explanations for these clusters were presented in the discussion. Finally, some recommendations and limitations are also presented and more research in this field is suggested as well.

Keywords : risk perception; social psychology; latin countries; Venezuela.

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