Give 'em enough rope: Perception of health and safety risks in bungee jumpers

The current popularity of bungee jumping-jumping from a platform some 160 feet high, with an elastic rope attached to the jumpers' ankles that is secured to the platform-provided an opportunity to measure perceptions of risk within a setting in which participants face a new, uncontrollable, and immediate, potentially risky situation. Novice bungee jumpers were interviewed either on arrival at the jump site (Time 1) or immediately prior to jumping (Time 2). Interviews were also conducted with people who watched their friends and family jump, but had no desire to jump themselves. Observers perceived no difference between the risk faced by their bungee jumping friend/family member and that of the typical bungee jumper. Both Time 1 and Time 2 jumpers perceived their own risk of injury to be less than the risk to the typical jumper. There was no difference in level of optimistic bias between Time 1 and Time 2 jumpers. Implications for Gilovich, Kerr, and Medvec's (1993) temporal hypothesis for unrealistic optimism are addressed, and the positive affective benefits of risk-taking are discussed.