Every single one of us encounters risks in our lives on a daily basis with work, finances or health and while some can be anticipated, there are others that are beyond our control. In an attempt to understand how humans perceive risk, Dr Dirk Wulff and Professor Rui Mata, researchers at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Basel conducted a study. "There is great scientific interest in the phenomenon of risk. But disciplines like psychology, sociology, and economics define it in different ways," explains Dirk Wulff.

According to Wulff, little attention has been paid until now to the fact that the meaning of risk can differ from individual to individual depending on goals and life experience. He feels it is important to understand how different people think about risk in order, for example, to gauge attitudes to new technologies or societal challenges.