Risks are selected
Douglas and Wildavsky (1982); Douglas (1992) on blame.
Grid–group
Thompson, Ellis and Wildavsky (1990) define four worldviews; Wildavsky and Dake (1990) test them.
Cultural cognition and critiques
Kahan et al. (2007, 2012) link to motivated reasoning; Sjöberg (2003) critiques; contrast risk society.
FAQ
- What is it in simple terms?
- What you fear depends on your group's values.
- What are the four worldviews?
- Hierarchist, individualist, egalitarian and fatalist.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Douglas, M., & Wildavsky, A. (1982). Risk and culture: An essay on the selection of technological and environmental dangers. University of California Press. The founding essay on how societies select which dangers to fear.
- Douglas, M. (1992). Risk and blame: Essays in cultural theory. Routledge. Essays on risk and blame as moral and political matters.
- Thompson, M., Ellis, R., & Wildavsky, A. (1990). Cultural theory. Westview Press. Systematises the grid–group typology of four worldviews.
- Wildavsky, A., & Dake, K. (1990). Theories of risk perception: Who fears what and why? Daedalus, 119(4), 41–60. Tests cultural worldviews against rival risk-perception theories.
- Kahan, D. M., Braman, D., Gastil, J., Slovic, P., & Mertz, C. K. (2007). Culture and identity-protective cognition: Explaining the white-male effect in risk perception. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 4(3), 465–505. Cultural cognition explains the white-male effect, a modern successor.
- Kahan, D. M., Peters, E., Wittlin, M., Slovic, P., Ouellette, L. L., Braman, D., & Mandel, G. (2012). The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nature Climate Change, 2(10), 732–735. Shows science literacy polarises climate risk perceptions.
- Sjöberg, L. (2003). Distal factors in risk perception. Journal of Risk Research, 6(3), 187–211. Argues cultural worldviews explain little variance, a key critique.