The Dislike of Hot Thermal Conditions and Its Relationship with Sun (Ultraviolet Radiation) Exposure in the Southeastern United States

• Main Authors: Alan E. Stewart, Michael G. Kimlin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: adults; attitudes; hot temperature; melanoma; risk-taking; skin neoplasms; sunbathing; sunlight; temperature; ultraviolet rays
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/10/2161

We investigated the relationship between peoples’ preferences for being outside during certain months of the year, based upon their dislike of hot or warm temperatures, and of taking precautions against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure. A sample of university undergraduates (N = 1400) living in the Northern Hemisphere completed an online survey in the late summer of 2017 that inventoried their dislike of heat and hot conditions, their sun tanning preferences and habits, and their preferences for being outside during different months of the year, along with whether they would protect themselves from the UVR exposure during those months. Dislike of hot conditions was negatively correlated with respondent preferences for sun tanning and with the number of months during the year that people enjoyed being active outside. A greater proportion of people who disliked hot conditions experienced risks of UVR overexposure during the spring and fall. In contrast, people who expressed more liking of heat frequently enjoyed being outside during the warmer months (April to October), and a significantly greater proportion of them experienced risks for sun overexposure in these months. Such individual differences in heat-related attitudes may explain a proportion the variability in individual risk behaviors for skin cancer that is not currently accounted for by approaches using objective variables such as temperature, thermal comfort indices, or the UV index.