Developments of risk literacy scales across disciplines

• Project/Area Number: 16K04254
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: OKABE Yasunari 帯広畜産大学, 畜産学部, 講師 (10413569)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 王 晋民 千葉科学大学, 危機管理学部, 教授 (10302431) ; 斉藤 準 帯広畜産大学, 畜産学部, 講師 (90757668) ; 室井 みや 兵庫医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (70339240)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
• Keywords: リスクリテラシー / 国際比較 / リスクの社会的受容 / 科学技術の受容 / 科学技術 / 社会系心理学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted a questionnaire survey on the risk literacy in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom and compared their responses in order to understand the characteristics and the current condition of Japanese risk literacy. The result showed the risk literacy of Japanese tended to be lower than that of US and UK.
In addition we examined a relationship of risk literacy with the acceptance of cultural meat and HPV vaccine in Japan and US. The correlations between risk literacy and the acceptance of both technologies were found. These findings supported the validity of the risk literacy scale.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究によって，リスクコミュニケーションの現場で経験的に指摘される日本人のリスクリテラシーの低さについて，実際の調査によって初めて示された．加えて，食品技術である細胞培養肉と医療技術であるHPVワクチンの社会的受容とリスクリテラシーとの間に，相関が認められたことから，本リスクリテラシー尺度は，分野の異なる幅広い科学技術のリスク認知研究に適用可能な尺度であることが示された．このことは，今後のリスク認知研究やリスクコミュニケーションを実践する現場への示唆に富む学術的にも社会的にも大変有意義な研究である．

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Southern Mississippi(米国)
• [Journal Article] Factors Affecting Acceptance of Nuclear Power Generation after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: A Comparison of Japanese and U.S. College Students (2020)
  • Author(s): WANG Jinmin and OKABE Yasunari
  • Journal Title: 千葉科学大学研究紀要 Volume: 13 Pages: 1-10
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] 福島原発事故後の原子力発電と エネルギー・環境問題に対する認知 (2019)
  • Author(s): 王晋民・岡部康成
  • Organizer: 産業組織心理学会
• [Presentation] Is it possible to predict the occurrence of ripple effects in the social amplification of risks? (2019)
  • Author(s): OKABE Yasunari and SAITO Masahide
  • Organizer: XVI European Congress of Psychology
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 原子力発電の受容の影響要因 (2018)
  • Author(s): 王 晋民・岡部康成
  • Organizer: 日本リスク研究学会第31回年次大会
• [Presentation] Differences between Nuclear-related Employees and Undergraduates in Acceptance of Nuclear Power after the Fukushima Disaster (2017)
  • Author(s): Yasunari Okabe, Jimmin Wang, Masahide Saito and Yoshie Ito
  • Organizer: 18th General Meeting of The European Association of Social Psychology
  • Int'l Joint Research