Another consistent result from psychometric studies of expressed
preferences is that people tend to view current risk levels as
rmacceptably high for most activities. The gap between perceived
and desired risk levels suggests that people are not satisfied with the
way that market and other regulatory mechanisms have balanced
risks and benefits. Across the domain of hazards, there seems to be
little systematic relationship between perceptions of current risks
and benefits. However, studies of expressed preferences do seem to
support Starr's argument that people are willing to tolerate higher
risks from activities seen as highly beneficial. But, whereas Starr
concluded that voluntariness of exposure was the key mediator of
risk acceptance, expressed preference studies have shown that other
(perceived) characteristics such as familiariry, control, catastrophic
potential, equity, and level of knowledge also seem to influence the
relation between perceived risk, perceived benefit, and risk acceptance
(12, 22).