Research On The Environmental Risk Perception Based On Appraisal Theory

The benefits of the Opening and Reform Policy have become increasingly moreobvious, especially the continuous fast economic growth. Yet, environmental risks haveincreased in the process as well. Social problems, underlying these environmental risks,are detrimental not only to public interests, but also to government’s efforts inenvironmental risk management. Under this context, there has been noticeable increasein the amount of researches on public environmental risk perception. However,traditional researches have disserved the connection between individual cognition andemotion, analyzing risk perception out of a mono view of psychic apparatus. In addition,traditional quantitative models have incorporated only outcome and probability, leavingindividual factors out of account, which can’t fully reflect the process of publicenvironmental risk perception.Under the abovementioned background, this paper targets environmental riskperception with individual orientation. It decomposes environmental risk perception intocognitive appraisal and behavioral decision making, and examines them with qualitativeand quantitative study respectively. This decomposition and study on each componentdisentangle the inner mechanism of environmental risk perception. First, environmentalrisk perception study examines people’s perception with cognition-emotion dual processperspective. It borrows appraisal theory from psychology, and sets up a new cognitiveappraisal model by introducing emotional state as a new variable. This model canexplain how appraisals decide individual behavioral tendencies via their influence oninstant emotions. Then, this paper proposes a new quantitative environmental riskperception model on the basis of prospect theory. This model quantifies people’senvironmental risk decision making. Non-linear least squares method is used inparameter estimation, and the estimation results are under different risk attitudes arecompared. The validity of the model is certified via goodness of fit. A comparison ofrisk perception under financial loss and moral dilemma is conducted. Finally, this studycombines the part of the findings related to the influence of appraisals and emotions onenvironmental risk perception with quantitative model, in the aim of incorporatingindividual factors into the model, which is comprehensive to describe the internalprocess of individual environmental risk perception.Out of cognition-emotion dual process perspective, this study analyzes theeconomic and psychological underpinnings of individual environmental risk perceptionby excogitating a qualitative cognitive appraisal model and a quantitative behavioraldecision making model. For the common public, this study provides them with a chanceto analyzing their risk perception mode closely, through which they can avoid gettingpanic and taking irrational self-hurting actions in the face of environmental risks. For government agencies, this study provides them with a meaningful reference in designmore effective environmental risk perception management and public managementpolicies which can nudge people to take proper actions in response to environmentalrisks.