Women's Decision-Making And Factors Affecting Their Choice Of ...

1979), is a second approach to understanding decision-making. Prospect theory
posits that biases, rather than rational judgements, characterise decision-making.
It has been used to demonstrate that people show systematic biases when making
decisions by overestimating the probability of rare, serious events, and
underestimating the probability of common, less serious events (Kahneman and
Tversky 1979). According to prospect theory, most people perceive their chances
of avoiding risk as being high (Weinstein 1982), and therefore are reluctant to
take precautions, such as wearing seat belts. They also under weigh probable
outcomes, in contrast to those that are certain (Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein
1978).
The third approach to the study of decision-making is the precaution
adoption process (Weinstein 1980; Weinstein 1988), which is divided into stages.
In the first stage, people must recognise that a hazard exists; a failure to protect
oneself is a reflection of ignorance of the threat rather than an underestimation of
the threat. Next, additional hazard messages and hazard experience must
convince them that the risk is significant, and that any precautions would be
effective. In the third stage, the belief that the precautions would be personally
effective is emphasised (Weinstein 1988). The second and third stages are often
characterised by denials that one is personally at risk, and this happens especially
in rarely encountered occurrences (Crawford 1987). After the necessary
requirements, perceived risk is a function of the individual's perceived severity of
the consequences for one's health and the efficacy and cost of preventive
behaviour (van der Plight 1998).
The precaution adoption process attempts to merge a number of theoretical
approaches within health education. The approaches are the health belief model
(HBM), theory of reasoned action (TRA), and social learning theory (SLT). The
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