Perceived Competence and Motivation in Industry and Government as Factors in Risk Perception 1

Trust has been mentioned as an important factor in a comparison of risk perception in France and the US (Poumadère 1995). In that study trust was related to lower perceived risk within countries, but between countries a paradoxical relationship was found. The French were more trusting than the Americans, yet perceived larger risks. This is a paradoxical result since one would expect higher trust to be associated with lower perceived risk.