Approaching the Risk Perception Gap: Effects of a Subject Matter Knowledge-Based Intervention in a Health Context

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Authors

  • Benedikt Heuckmann
  • Finja Krüger

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • University of Münster
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Details

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Biological Education
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2021

Abstract

We conducted a short subject matter knowledge-based intervention in a quasi-experimental design and explored whether providing health-related subject matter knowledge affects university students’ risk perception and their behavioural intentions. We chose the everyday context of using antiperspirants that contain aluminium and focused on the presumption that antiperspirants facilitate Alzheimer’s disease development. This study was devoted to a risk perception gap caused by the epistemic and ontological uncertainty involved in the contextual background of using antiperspirants and developing Alzheimer’s disease. By computing repeated measures ANOVA, we found that imparting subject matter knowledge as system, action-related and effectiveness health knowledge increased students’ cognitive and affective risk perception. Path analyses revealed that cognitive and affective risk perception had an indirect, negative effect on behavioural intentions towards using antiperspirants. Attitudes and perceived behavioural control fully mediated the relationship between risk perception and intention. The mediation effect differed between students who received subject matter knowledge and students who did not. We discuss the findings from our study related to the role of subject matter knowledge for understanding risk perception, the ambiguity of overcoming and creating a risk perception gap when uncertainty holds and how risk perception relates to attitudes and behavioural intention.

Keywords

    Risk perception, risk literacy, uncertainty, intention, theory of planned behaviour, aluminium

Cite this

Approaching the Risk Perception Gap: Effects of a Subject Matter Knowledge-Based Intervention in a Health Context. / Heuckmann, Benedikt; Krüger, Finja.
In: Journal of Biological Education, 2021.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

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