Beyond a simple case of black and white: searching for the white male effect in the African-American community.

Abstract

Prior research focusing on risk perceptions has led to the observation that well-educated and politically conservative white males tend to systematically perceive lower levels of risk from a wide range of hazards when compared to other members of society (e.g., white women, nonwhite women and men). While this "white male effect (WME)" is quite striking given that many policymakers fall into this group, a byproduct of this finding is that it deflects attention from the heterogeneity, in terms of people's concerns about risks, that exists in African-American and other minority communities. The research reported here set out to explore this heterogeneity by asking a simple question: Can a phenomenon similar to the WME be found in the African-American community? It can, and its implications for research and practice in risk management are discussed.