Berlin Emotional Responses to Risk Instrument (BERRI)

Abstract

The Berlin Emotional Responses to Risk Instrument (BERRI; Petrova et al., 2023) is a concise tool designed to assess anticipatory positive and negative affective reactions to decision-relevant information concerning costs, benefits, and risks. The development of the BERRI involved creating an initial pool of 14 items (seven positive and seven negative) based on prior risk communication studies, such as those by Garcia-Retamero & Cokely (2011, 2012, 2014) and Rothman et al. (1999). Through theoretical considerations and empirical results, six items were ultimately retained: three positive (assured, hopeful, relieved) and three negative (anxious, afraid, worried). Data for the instrument’s validation were collected across seven studies, involving diverse adult samples from the United States, Spain, and Poland. The items were translated from English into Polish and Spanish to accommodate the participant demographics. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided strong evidence for a two-factor structure. Comprehensive investigations into the instrument’s reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability), validity (predictive, convergent, divergent), and test sensitivity were conducted and reported. The BERRI is designed for quick administration, requiring only one minute to complete.

Keywords

Anticipatory Affective Reactions; Decision Making; Divergent Validity; Negative Emotions; Positive Emotions; Risk Communication; Risk Perception; Risks; Anticipatory Affective Reactions; Negative Affective Reactions; Positive Affective Reactions

Authors

Petrova, Dafina; Cokely, Edward T.; Sobkow, Agata; Traczyk, Jakub; Garrido, Dunia; Garcia-Retamero, Rocio

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Purpose

The BERRI was developed to assess general anticipatory positive and negative affective reactions to decision-relevant information about costs, benefits, and risks. This instrument aims to provide a brief and efficient measure of these emotional responses in the context of decision making and risk communication.

Validity

The validity of the BERRI has been thoroughly investigated, covering multiple aspects:

• Test Sensitivity: Both the BERRI-pos (positive factor) and BERRI-neg (negative factor) demonstrated high sensitivity to variations in outcome severity and probability. Outcome severity explained approximately 20% of the variance in BERRI scores (partial η² of 0.18 for BERRI-neg and 0.20 for BERRI-pos). Probability, on the other hand, accounted for about 40% of the variance (partial η² of 0.36 for BERRI-neg and 0.43 for BERRI-pos). This indicates that the instrument is responsive to changes in critical decision-making parameters.

• Predictive Validity: The BERRI-pos component was found to be a strong positive predictor of criterion variables (Pearson r’s > 0.70), indicating its ability to forecast relevant outcomes. In contrast, the BERRI-neg component showed only weak correlations with these variables.

• Convergent/Divergent Validity: The BERRI-pos and BERRI-neg components were found to be uncorrelated with each other (r = 0.02, p = 0.593), demonstrating their discriminant validity as distinct constructs. Furthermore, the BERRI-pos component consistently exhibited a stronger relationship with risk-taking propensity across all domains compared to BERRI-neg, supporting its convergent validity with related constructs.

Reliability

The reliability of the BERRI has been established through internal consistency and test-retest reliability assessments:

• Internal Consistency: Across all studies conducted, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for both factors of the BERRI consistently exceeded 0.65, indicating good internal consistency within the subscales.

• Test-Retest Reliability: With a two-week interval between administrations, the correlations between BERRI scores in the two sessions ranged from 0.40 to 0.59. These moderate correlations suggest acceptable test-retest reliability, indicating the stability of the scores over time.

Factor Analysis

Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to establish the underlying structure of the BERRI:

• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed, which resulted in a two-component solution. These two components collectively explained 67% of the total variance, with eigenvalues of 5.6 and 3.8 respectively. This analysis provided initial support for a two-factor structure.

• Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): The CFA analysis further confirmed that a two-factor model for the BERRI scale provided the best fit to the data, solidifying the empirical support for its intended structure of positive and negative affective reactions.

Instrument

• Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire

• Format: Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = Not at all to 7 = Extremely. For the Polish version, participants responded using a nine-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 9 (extremely). Studies 1, 2, 4, and 5 were not conducted for the sole purpose of validating the scale, and therefore contained experimental manipulations and additional measures.

• Language Available: English, Polish, Spanish

• Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

• Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs), Thirties (30-39 yrs), Middle Age (40-64 yrs), Aged (65 yrs & older), and Very Old (85 yrs & older).

• Population Details: Data were collected from diverse adult samples located in Poland, Spain, and the United States.

• Test Methodology: The methodology included Test Validity (Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity, Predictive Validity), Test Reliability (Internal Consistency, Test-Retest Reliability), and Factor Analysis (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis).

Keywords

Anticipatory Affective Reactions; Decision Making; Divergent Validity; Negative Emotions; Positive Emotions; Risk Communication; Risk Perception; Risks; Anticipatory Affective Reactions; Negative Affective Reactions; Positive Affective Reactions

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Authors Including Author ORCID Identifier and Affiliation Email Addresses Correspondence Address

• Petrova, Dafina:

  • Author ORCID Identifier: 0000-0002-0346-6776

  • Affiliation: Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA

  • Email Address: [email protected]

  • Correspondence Address: Cuesta del Observatorio 4, Granada, Spain, 18071

• Cokely, Edward T.:

  • Affiliation: University of Oklahoma

• Sobkow, Agata:

  • Author ORCID Identifier: 0000-0002-5357-744X

  • Affiliation: Center for Research on Improving Decision Making (CRIDM), Faculty of Psychology in Wroclaw SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities

• Traczyk, Jakub:

  • Author ORCID Identifier: 0000-0001-9145-1998

  • Affiliation: Center for Research on Improving Decision Making (CRIDM), Faculty of Psychology in Wroclaw SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities

• Garrido, Dunia:

  • Affiliation: Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación Universidad de Granada

• Garcia-Retamero, Rocio:

  • Affiliation: Universidad de Granada

  • Email Address: [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author (Petrova, Dafina)

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

• Commercial: No

References

No data is Available

Items of the Berlin Emotional Responses to Risk Instrument (BERRI)

The Berlin Emotional Responses to Risk Instrument (BERRI) is a 6-item measure composed of two factors:

• Positive (BERRI-pos):

  • Assured

  • Hopeful

  • Relieved

• Negative (BERRI-neg):

  • Anxious

  • Afraid

  • Worried

The items are rated on a Likert scale, with the English version using a 7-point scale (1 = Not at all to 7 = Extremely) and the Polish version using a 9-point scale (1 = Not at all to 9 = Extremely). The items are administered electronically.