Risk perception is the
subjective judgement that people make about the characteristics and severity of a
risk. The phrase is most commonly used in reference to
natural hazards and threats to
the environment or
health, such as
nuclear power. Several theories have been proposed to explain why different people make different estimates of the dangerousness of risks. Three major families of theory have been developed: psychology approaches (heuristics and cognitive), anthropology/sociology approaches (cultural theory) and interdisciplinary approaches (social amplification of risk framework).