Psychological Perspectives on Perceived Safety: Social Factors of Feeling Safe

Eller, Eric and Frey, Dieter (March 2019): Psychological Perspectives on Perceived Safety: Social Factors of Feeling Safe. In: Raue, Martina; Streicher, Bernhard and Lermer, Eva (eds.) : Perceived Safety: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Risk Engineering (RISK), Cham: Springer. pp. 43-60

Abstract

What makes people feel safe? How do people conclude whether a certain situation, choice, or behavior is safe or not? In the present chapter we take the view that social factors influence perceived safety. We discuss the social determinants of perceived safety both as a general subjective state and as a safety-related estimation or judgment. From this perspective, we first discuss what humans need to feel safe. We present psychological insights on basic human needs and argue that the fulfillment of those needs is a general condition for the state of perceived safety. Second, we discuss how social factors (i.e. what others do and say and how one relates to these others) influence safety judgments and decisions. We illustrate how individuals adapt their judgments and behaviors to group norms and discuss why group discussions can lead to extreme judgments and decisions. We aim to complement the existing literature on perceived safety by highlighting the importance of social factors of safety perception.

• Item Type: Book Section
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Faculties: Psychology and Education Science
• Subjects: 100 Philosophy and Psychology > 150 Psychology
• ISBN: 978-3-030-11454-1; 978-3-030-11456-5
• ISSN: 2195-433X
• Place of Publication: Cham
• Language: English