Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026
03:56
Assessing Dominant-Submissive Behavior in Adult Rats Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: December 16, 2022
Local dominance in health risk perception
1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA. e_zell@uncg.edu
Psychology & Health
|December 5, 2012
Summary
Local comparisons, involving a few individuals, significantly impact health risk perception over general comparisons. This effect, known as local dominance, influences health judgments and behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Self-evaluation is influenced by social comparison, with local comparisons (few people) often dominating general comparisons (many people).
- The impact of this 'local dominance' effect on health risk perception and subsequent health behaviors remains underexplored.
- Accurate health risk perception is crucial for motivating preventative health behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the local dominance effect extends to the domain of health risk perception.
- To determine if comparisons with a small group of peers influence perceived health risks more than comparisons with a large group.
- To examine the implications of these effects on health-related judgments and behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted using manipulated feedback on health risks (diabetes risk in Study 1, car accident risk in Study 2).
- Participants received comparative risk feedback relative to either numerous peers (general comparison) or a few peers (local comparison).
- Risk perception was assessed after participants received feedback indicating their risk was above average or below average.
Main Results:
- Participants perceived their risk as significantly higher when informed it was above average compared to below average, demonstrating a general comparison effect.
- However, this disparity in risk perception was eliminated when participants also received local comparison information (highest/lowest among a few peers).
- Local comparison information moderated the influence of general comparison feedback on health risk perception.
Conclusions:
- The local dominance effect, where comparisons with a few individuals outweigh those with many, is evident in health risk perception.
- This finding suggests that local comparison information can mitigate or eliminate the bias introduced by general comparison feedback.
- Understanding local comparison effects is vital for accurately assessing and influencing health judgments and promoting preventative health behaviors.
Related Concept Videos
01:25Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
A model is a theoretical way to understand a concept or an idea. Models can overcome barriers to health regardless of diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. In addition, models make the task easier by providing different ways to approach complex issues. There are two major health promotion models: the health belief model and the health promotion model.
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
01:08Obedience
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation, obedience...
01:08The Availability Heuristic
A heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, and the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):
01:26Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
Health promotion allows a person to control the determinants of health, resulting in an improved health status. It enhances the quality of life and reduces premature deaths. Health promotion and illness prevention programs help people make beneficial choices to reduce the risk of disease and disabilities. There are three health promotion and illness prevention levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
01:18Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The person's health status fluctuates continually, varying from being in good health to becoming ill and returning to being healthy. To understand the concept of illness prevention, there are two models. First, the health-illness continuum model is a graphic representation of an individual's wellness. It states that a person is considered healthy in the absence of physical disease and the presence of good emotional health.
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...
02:12Relationship Formation
What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...