This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Vaughan, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Socioeconomic Context of Exposure and Response to Environmental Risk

Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine

This research examined the association between socioeconomic factors and the risk responses of 437 Mexican immigrant farmworkers chronically exposed to agricultural pesticides. Past explanations for patterns of risk responses have focused on intra-individual factors, and usually have minimized the possible influence of socioeconomic circumstances on adaptation to risk. Immigrant farmworkers from a variety of occupational contexts participated in this investigation and were expected to systematically differ in their response to pesticide exposure depending on socioeconomic circumstances, judgments about the risk situation, and the subjective evaluation of occupational conditions. Analyses revealed that beliefs about the risks of pesticides were not randomly distributed throughout this sample, but varied with socioeconomic factors. For example, workers who were in more limited economic circumstances judged future health effects to be more likely, and believed that safety precautions were less effective. Additionally, socioeconomic circumstances modified the relationship between intra-individual factors and response to risk. The discussion considers several possible links between socio-economic factors and risk adaptation, and implications for environmental policy.

Environment and Behavior, Vol. 27, No. 4, 454-489 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/0013916595274002


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Rao, S. A. Quandt, A. M. Doran, B. M. Snively, and T. A. Arcury Pesticides in the Homes of Farmworkers: Latino Mothers' Perceptions of Risk to Their Children's Health Health Educ Behav, April 1, 2007; 34(2): 335 - 353. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. B. Ruback, H. A. Begum, N. Tariq, A. Kamal, and J. Pandey Reactions to Environmental Stressors: Gender Differences in the Slums of Dhaka and Islamabad Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, January 1, 2002; 33(1): 100 - 119. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. James and J. Eyles Perceiving and Representing Both Health and the Environment: An Exploratory Investigation Qual Health Res, January 1, 1999; 9(1): 86 - 104. [Abstract] [PDF]