Transportation and Risk Perceptions in Individuals Varying in Numeracy

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  • February 26, 2019
Creator
  • Moore, Remi S.
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Abstract
  • In medical settings, people often base their perceptions of risk on a mix of numeric and narrative information. Previous research has shown that narrative transportation, immersion in stories, is an effective persuasive technique, and that different representations of numbers may have different effects on risk perception. However, little research has examined individual differences as mediating factors for communication techniques. Furthermore, past research has only investigated the presence or absence of a narrative as a factor influencing risk, rather than the transportive qualities of the narrative. We investigated how individuals of varying numeracy (number literacy) and transportability (the general tendency to be immersed into stories) perceived risk when exposed to both numeric and narrative information. UNC undergraduates (N = 218) read about a fictional disease called photokeratitis in a 2 (narrative information: transporting or not) x 2 (risk: high or low) between subjects design. Participants then answered questions about their perceptions of the story itself, their risk perceptions, and their behavioral intentions. Objective numeracy did not have main or interactive effects on the primary variables, but subjective numeracy did affect responses. Specifically, in the low risk/low transportation conditions, those with high subjective numeracy estimated accurate risk for themselves, but in all other conditions reported similar risk as the low subjective numeracy group. The results suggest that those with higher subjective numeracy more accurately assess risk when compared with those with low subjective numeracy, but only when information is non-threatening and when they are not influenced by high quality narratives. This study suggests that subjective numeracy is important for health decisions only in specific contexts, suggesting that more research is needed in order to learn to accurately communicate risk to the public.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Funding: David Bray Peele Memorial Research Award
Advisor
  • Green, Melanie C.
Degree
  • Bachelor of Arts
Honors level
  • Honors
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Extent
  • 43

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