Contextual effects on people's ratings of seriousness for side effects of prescription drugs.

Subjects rated the seriousness of 25 side effects. Two contextual effects, varying the health problem for which subjects were taking the drug and providing brief descriptions of side effects, were examined. The group given the scenario of a serious health problem made lower ratings of seriousness than the group given no health problem. Providing subjects with brief descriptions of side effects also lowered their ratings of seriousness. The study has implications for researchers assessing perceptions of risk as well as for designers of consumer information.