Abstract
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated their hometowns as a result of Fukushima accident. In this study, we investigated whether radiation risk perceptions and beliefs about the importance of happiness affected willingness to return home as a general attitude among laypeople. We provided participants with two types of risk information, namely, additional cancer risk and additional effective doses, and identified factors governing differences in willingness to return home as a function of information type. Willingness to return home was affected by factors related to perceptions of dread risk regarding radiation, a lack of knowledge about radiation, and a lack of trust in either the government or science. On the other hand, the perception of unknown risk and the importance of happiness related to family or community life were less influential. Differences in personal perception of dread risk regarding radiation had a greater effect on willingness to return home than differences in risk levels presented to participants. Some participants who experienced an intuitive dread of radiation, or lacked knowledge about radiation or trust in the government or science perceived radiation risks as higher when additional effective dose, rather than corresponding additional cancer risk, was provided as risk information.
