Do personal characteristics affect the Rasch measures of perceived physical risk? A quantile regression approach

This paper focuses on the measurement of the perception of healthy risk according to personal characteristics. The Physical Risk Assessment Inventory was adopted as measurement tool and it was administered to 551 students enrolled in the first and in the fifth classes of some high schools of Palermo. The analysis of the determinants of the perceived risk is based on its quantitative measures. Therefore the analysis has been developed into two tracks. First track is devoted to obtain a quantitative measure of the perceived risk: an Extended Logistic Rasch Model was used considering separately males and females. Results highlight the different perception of risk between males and females, although the order of risky activities is the same for the two of them. Second track investigates the determinants of the Rasch person measures: a Quantile Regression was adopted to overcome the non-normality of the measures distribution. Results show that males pay less attention to their own health than females do, and that difference increases when the quantiles of the person measures increase. Same remarks hold for fifth year students with respect to first year ones.