Research On Psychological Distance Of The Environmental Risk Perception

As one of global problems facing human beings, environmental risk hasreceived much concern in every country in the world. Environmental riskperception research focuses on the social aspects of environmental risks, rather thanthe technical aspects. The importance of environmental risk perception researcheslies in its guidance on environmental behavior decision making. With thedevelopment of construal level theory in psychology, the number of researchesanalyzing environmental risk perception out of has increased noticeably. Amongthese researches, psychological distance model describes the extent of individualperception of environmental risks. Yet, this model is far from being complete. Itlacks a comprehensive measurement of all the dimensions of psychologicaldistance.Under the above context, this study aims to consummate existing models. Itincorporates all psychological distance dimensions into an environmental riskperception model, and takes into account individual differences. Based uponexisting models and different representations of utility function, this study proposesmultiple representations for the target model. To estimate parameters, non-linearregressions are conducted on data obtained from environmental risk perceptionexperiment, which is supported by a computer program. For individual differences,the relationship between personality types by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)and environmental risk perception is analyzed. It is found that people with differentpersonality types have different preferences in environmental risk perception.Personality also influences people s sensitivity to psychological distance ofenvironmental risks. In addition, this study finds that the influences of differentpsychological dimensions are different, with social distance being the mostinfluential dimension in environmental risk perception.This study makes some theoretical contributions and is of value as a referenceto environmental risk perception researches which take into account psychologicaldistance and personality. The psychological distance model proposed in this studyclearly shows how individuals perceive and appraise environmental risks. Thismodel can is valuable for future researches and the formulation of related policies.