RISK PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES IN ALBANIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

This paper analyses risk perception and attitudes toward risk in Albanian society. It principally focuses on how age affects risk tolerance, even though also gender impact is taken into account. To particular interest is the shift in risk perception of the individuals before and after the fall of communism. The authors have embraced an exploratory research, using qualitative data from interviews. By considering two groups of participants, those older than 35 and younger than 35, the paper makes distinctions between risk attitude of both groups. In addition, the differences in responses between genders have been analyzed. The paper draws conclusions on the role of age and gender in relation to risk perception by aligning it with main conclusions of academic literature on these aspects. It further discusses the role of the social environment before and after the fall of communism and its effect on the risk tolerance profile of Albanians.