Glossary
Risk-as-Feelings Theory
What is risk-as-feelings theory?
Risk-as-feelings theory explains how present emotions can affect responses to risk. A person may judge an activity safe but feel too afraid to do it.
Loewenstein, Weber, Hsee, and Welch developed the framework in 2001. Its focus is the feeling you have while deciding, such as fear now. That differs from predicting how you will feel after an outcome, such as expecting to regret a choice.
When feelings and judgments conflict, feelings can influence what happens next. The theory does not say that emotion always overrules judgment.
Why feelings and risk judgments can differ
The framework includes influences such as vividness, how immediate the risk feels, and background mood. Feelings and deliberate assessments need not respond to the same information in the same way. Thinking about the probability of an outcome is not identical to experiencing fear as it approaches.
A choice example
Imagine a person deciding whether to cross a high pedestrian bridge. They judge the bridge safe, yet a vivid view of the drop produces fear while they stand at the entrance. That current fear is different from thinking, “If I turn back, I may regret missing the event on the other side.” The first is a feeling during the decision; the second anticipates a feeling after an outcome.
In this hypothetical example, a photograph of the drop could make the danger feel more vivid without changing the person’s stated estimate of the bridge’s safety. Risk-as-feelings theory explains why those two responses need not move together. It does not establish which choice this person will make or which presentation would improve it.
What this means for risk communication
Ask both what the person believes could happen and what they feel while deciding. That distinction can clarify the problem.