Journal of Health Psychology 1 –7 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions:

hpq.sagepub.com Risk perceptions are central to many health behaviour theories (e.g. Rogers, 1983). These theories posit that individuals are more likely to adopt health-protective behaviours (or lessen engagement in health-compromising behav-iours) when they perceive themselves to be vul-nerable to an aversive health threat and a prescribed course of action to be effective in reducing the threat (e.g. Rogers, 1983). While effects tend to be small, these hypotheses have been empirically well supported in predicting responses to personal health (Milne et al., 2000). Yet, many health-related decisions are taken as proxies, based on perceptions of risks posed to another. For example, parents must decide whether to vaccinate their children against communicable diseases. Little evidence is available to compare risk-based health deci-sions taken on behalf of others with those for oneself. Separate literature suggests that people may not appreciate risks to their own health (e.g. Weinstein, 1987), and that parents may be highly sensitive to risk when making health-related decisions for their children (e.g. Gardner et al., 2010). Work on vaccination acceptance, in which two potential risks are present – dis-ease risks associated with rejecting a vaccine and possible complications arising from accept-ing a vaccine – has found that parents pay more attention to unlikely high-risk consequences Are parents more willing to vaccinate their children than themselves