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

less likely to happen to them than to others, while positive things are more likely
to happen to them than to others. Weinstein maintains that the greater the
perceived probability of the event and the more personal experience the individual
has with an event, the greater the tendency to believe that the person's own
chances are greater than average.
The theories discussed so far reveal a complex relationship between
perceptions of risk and actions taken to reduce them. Kronenfeld (1991) argues
that if risks are perceived, and actions are taken to reduce them, the relationship
between risk perception and risk reduction action should show an inverse
relationship. The next section will discuss some studies using the risk perception
construct, and how the results could give insights about risk perception in
childbirth.
Risk perception in applied research
When talking about the social and cultural construction of risk, Johnson
and Covello (1987) have said that decisions must be made about which risks are
important to an individual, and which risks they feel they can safely ignore. The
challenge is that there is often no consensus as risks considered by some
individuals to be tolerable and acceptable may be unacceptable to others. The
thesis proposes that the same is true in childbirth, what some women consider
risky, others may not regard as such. The process of childbirth has some inherent
risks and uncertainty. One never knows how the process is going to proceed until
it has ended. Choosing a place of birth may suggest that the individual concerned
has appraised information about risk and safety, and come to a conclusion about
what possible risks there are, and how best to deal with them. The individuals
therefore are thought to define risk, selectively choose what they consider risky,
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