Dread and Distraction

How much people perceive a hazard, say like exposure to a toxic substance, to be a personal risk depends in part on how dreaded are the outcomes of the exposure. In the case of toxic substance exposure, the possible outcomes may include cancer and birth defects (or may not, but then again, uncertainty is another determinant of risk perception), which if you read any accounts of communities being exposed to toxic substances, are clearly things that people dread.

The New York Times points to this article published recently in Science reporting on a study of the neural basis for the sensation of dread. The investigators found that sense of dread may also be related to having to wait for the outcome:

Given the choice of waiting for an adverse outcome or getting it over with quickly, many people choose the latter. Theoretical models of decision-making have assumed that this occurs because there is a cost to waiting—i.e., dread. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured the neural responses to waiting for a cutaneous electric shock. Some individuals dreaded the outcome so much that, when given a choice, they preferred to receive more voltage rather than wait.

The investigators concluded that the sense of dread may be related to the attention devoted to the expected physical response and not simply from fear or anxiety, and that there is

. . . evidence for a neurobiological link between the experienced disutility of dread and subsequent decisions about unpleasant outcomes.

What this means in terms of managing environmental risks is that taking more time to get to outcomes or decisions (whether it’s cleaning up sites or taking hazardous substances out of the commerce stream) reinforces peoples’ sense of dread and increases their outrage over the risk. This is why effective management of environmental risks not only involves risk communication and public involvement, but the ability to clearly communicate the next steps in the process – when those steps will happen and what they will accomplish.

So, knowing what are the next steps in solving an environmental problem, when they are going to happen, and simply being kept apprised about what is going on, may be an antidote to dread. The ability to stay informed and have some control over the decision making may also help (I’m developing an example for our consideration, to be posted soon).

The Times doesn’t get it. It would have you believe the antidote to dread is distraction. Worried about your health from environmental hazards? Whistle real loud.