Risk perception in fire evacuation behavior revisited: definitions, related concepts, and empirical evidence

Kinateder, Max T; Kuligowski, Erica D; Reneke, Paul A; Peacock, Richard D

doi:10.1186/s40038-014-0005-z

Fire Science Reviews

Table 2 Current knowledge on factors affecting perceived risk and evacuation behavior

From: Risk perception in fire evacuation behavior revisited: definitions, related concepts, and empirical evidence

Factor	Category	Static/dynamic ¹	Effect on perceived risk
Fire Cues	Situational	Dynamic	More, closer, unexpected and more intense fire cues lead to higher perceived risk
Hazard proximity	Situational	Dynamic	Inconclusive
Floor level	Situational	Dynamic	The higher the floor, the higher the perceived risk
Context	Situational	Static	Inconclusive
Credibility of information	Situational	Static	Credibility of information moderates information processing and perceived risk with potential interaction effects of the source of information (another person vs. system)
Complexity of information	Situational	Dynamic	Inconclusive
Gender	Individual	Static	Tendency toward lower perceived risk in men, but effects are potentially modulated by age and context
Age	Individual	Static	Inconclusive
Previous experience	Individual	Static	Direct effects of previous experience on perceived risk are inconclusive.
Behavioral training	Individual	Static	Inconclusive
Hazard knowledge	Individual	Static	Knowledge about hazards increases perceived risk
Property attachment	Individual	Static	Inconclusive
Personality traits	Individual	Static	Inconclusive
Emotional states	Individual	Dynamic	High arousal and state anxiety increase perceived risk
Medical factors	Individual	Dynamic	Inconclusive
Cognitive abilities	Individual	Static	Inconclusive
Information Processing	Individual	Dynamic	Information that is processed easily may be associated with lower perceived risk
Trust in authorities	Individual	Static	High trust reduces perceived risk; low trust increases perceived risk
Cognitive bias	Individual	Dynamic	Inconclusive
Behavior of others	Social	Dynamic	Behavior of others moderates the link between perceived risk and protective action
Social roles	Social	Dynamic	Inconclusive
Groups	Social	Dynamic	Higher perceived risk in groups
Organizational context	Organizational	Dynamic	Inconclusive

Note: ¹Dynamic factors can change in the course of a fire emergency, e.g., the number of fire cues may increase or decrease with time.
References for the findings are given in the text in Section 4.4.1 to 4.4.4.

Back to article page