Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Closer Than You Think: The Influence Of Border Bias On Perceptions Of Mapped Hazards, Sarah D. Gardiner

Undergraduate Review

In a replication and extension of “border bias” research conducted by Mishra and Mishra (2010) and Molloy and colleagues (2012; 2013), who found that mapped threats within state borders were judged to be a greater risk than equidistant out of state threats, the effects of color (added to indicate zones of potential exposure) and a “double border” (on maps and in the lab) were measured. Support was found for border bias in that state boundaries appeared to influence risk perception. As hypothesized, there was also a significant effect for color boundaries, and participants avoided a location shown at an equidistant …