Risk as an Interdisciplinary Research Area

Abstract

Abstract Risk issues initially attracted attention as the growing complexity of technical processes and enterprises generated interest in practical problems of risk management. Two factors—the realization that accidents and errors were not simply technical issues, and the increased opposition of members of the public to innovations—directed attention to psychological and sociological approaches to risk. As theoretical and empirical work developed, researchers from different perspectives recognized the importance of the sociocultural embeddedness of risk perceptions.