What do friends and media tell us? How different information channels affect women’s risk perceptions of age-related female infertility

Abstract: "Based on a survey of a random sample of Swedish 20-40 year old females this paper investigates how different channels of information affect women’s perceptions of the general and the personal risks of age-related female infertility. We find that information from both media and friends and relatives matters for women’s risk perceptions. Just before the original survey was sent out, several Swedish newspapers reported that university students in Sweden tend to overestimate women’s chances of becoming pregnant. Therefore, we sent out another survey to a new sample of women two months later. Comparing responses immediately after the large media report with responses two months later, we cannot find any significant differences. Furthermore, women are most likely to want information from the health care system although, interestingly, women who highly underestimate the general risks for all age groups are less likely to want information from this source." Source: Göteborg University, School of Business, Economics and Law

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