I'm safer than the others in my town: place identity and comparative optimism in the perception of urban risks

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate comparative optimism regarding urban risks and to explore the role of identification with the city of residence in this process. Our sample included 156 university students from Lisbon, Huelva and Lyon. Results revealed the occurrence of comparative optimism regarding all urban risks considered (pick pocketing, burglary, terrorism and airplane fall). As expected, risks for self were always considered inferior than risk for others. However, this effect was influenced by risk characteristics and degree oof city identification. Participants considered themselves less vulnerable than residentes in other cities (outgroup comparison) particularly in the case of severe and  uncontrollable risks (terrorism and airplane fall) whereas they were less optimistic in the case of less severe and more controllable risks (burglary and pick pocketing). Regarding identification, we found that in the case of uncontrollable urban risks, more identified individuals revealed more comparative optimism than those less identified.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v21i2.366