The prevention of accidents at work is a major issue economically and psychologically. All the statistical analyzes show that work-related accidents have direct financial and human repercussions (compensation, replacement of employees, etc.) but also important indirect consequences (difficulty of reintegration, lower performance, etc.). To consider that comparative optimism is a defensive bias (Taylor et al., 1992) also implies that individuals may be all more optimistic that an event is threatening. Among the elements that contribute to making an event threatening, we can retain two essential criteria : (Salminen, 1996), on the one hand the probability of occurrence, that is to say the frequency, and on the other hand the gravity, that is, the nature of the consequences. It is likely that the event will be perceived more threatening if it is frequent and its consequences are important. From the defensive perspective, we can thus expect individuals to be more optimistic as they assess the risk of being a victim of a serious and frequent occupational accident. Conversely, we can assume that this bias will be much smaller in terms of assessing the smaller risk of a rare and benign occupational accident, which is frequent and benign, or even serious but rare. In such cases, the reassuring function of comparative optimism would be less essential.
The aim of this study is to test whether individuals, when assessing their risk of being confronted with various occupational accidents, show comparative optimism, that is to say they consider their risks to be lower than those of their colleagues. It is also an opportunity to test the hypothesis that individuals are even more optimistic when the event is threatening. Thus, an accident with serious and probable consequences (and therefore more threatening) should give rise to maximum comparative optimism.
To do this, we used workers from a mirror factory. This sector of activity involves classic risks (falls, bad positioning, etc.). In addition, the resource material, (this case glass), implies the existence of many potential risks such as cuts. In order to assess the level of comparative optimism, we asked the subjects to assess their personal risk and the risk of one of their colleagues being confronted with a serious / rare, serious event. / frequent, benign / rare or benign / frequent depending on the experimental condition in which they were found. The questions asked were: “In your opinion, what is your risk of …?” And “What do you think is the risk of one of your colleagues from …?”. Participants assessed their personal risk and that of one of their colleagues to be faced with a serious / rare, severe / frequent, benign / rare or benign / frequent accident.
The results reveal the presence of a bias of optimism, in particular in the case of serious and frequent accidents. The perspective of the negative event represented by the accident at work seems to cause anxiety in the individual (Watson, 1988) who tries to reassure himself through a misperception that places him favorably in relation to others. Indeed, these data are discussed in terms of defensive bias and maintaining self-esteem. However, it will need to be replicated and extended to other business sectors (identified high risk sectors such as the chemical industry or very low risk sectors) and therefore to other types of risks. It is a question of studying to what extent the results observed here are generalizable.
VIALLA Morgane, VADON Solène, EMARD Quentin.
Hello ! My name is Morgane and I’m 21 years old. Currently, I live in Nantes with my boyfriend but i’m come from Saint-Etienne and Vendée. I am at the University of Nantes since my first year of license. After my graduation, I would like to work in a consultant office but my project could change in the future. I like to travel in foreign countries and I’m a piano addict (I took courses during ten years).