Perceived Safety : A Multidisciplinary Perspective

This book offers a multidisciplinary perspective on perceived safety. It discusses the concept of safety from engineering, philosophy, and psychology angles, and considers various definitions of safety and its relationship to risk. Examining the categorization of safety and the measurement of risk, risk cultures, basic human needs and decision-making under uncertainty, the contributions demonstrate the practical implications and applications in areas such as health behavior, aviation and sports.

Topics covered include:

• What is “safety” and is there “optimal safety” in engineering?
  
• Philosophical perspectives on safety and risk
  
• Psychological perspectives on perceived safety: social factors of feeling safe
  
• Psychological perspectives on perceived safety: zero-risk bias, feelings & learned carelessness
  
• Perception of aviation safety 
  

Intended for both practitioners and academic researchers, this book appeals to anyone interested in decision-making and the perception and establishment of safety.

Martina Raue is a research scientist at the MIT AgeLab in Cambridge, Massachusetts and an instructor at the Harvard University’s Department of Psychology. She studies risk perception and decision-making over the human lifespan, with a focus on the roles of time and emotion, applies theories from social psychology to challenges and risks of longevity and examines ways to improve planning and preparing for later life. Dr. Raue received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich in Germany and her master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Bernhard Streicher is a Full Professor of Social and Personality Psychology and Head of the Department of Psychology and Medical Sciences at the Private University for Health Sciences – UMIT in Hall, Tyrol, Austria. His research interests include the psychological mechanisms of decision-making under risk and uncertainty and the question of how to enhance the risk competencies of people and organizations. In addition to his scientific research, Professor Streicher works as a lecturer and consultant on the topic of ‘risk’ for profit and non-profit organizations. He received his academic titles from the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich in Germany.

Eva Lermer is a Professor of Business Psychology at the FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics & Management in Munich, Germany and a research scientist at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Regensburg, Germany. Her research interests include subjective risk assessment, decision-making and de-biasing strategies. In addition to her scientific research, Professor Lermer works as consultant for profit and non-profit organizations. She received her academic degrees from the University of Salzburg in Austria and the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich in Germany.

Martina Raue, Bernhard Streicher, and Eva Lermer jointly founded the Risikolabor (risk lab) at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich in 2011. Although currently based at different intuitions, they continue to collaborate on various research projects investigating human perception of risk and influences on risk-taking behavior. In addition, they offer consulting and workshops on the topic.