Why don't people heed risk warnings from science?

In a review of studies between 1989 and 1996 on barriers to breast cancer screening, researcher Sharon George, Ph.D., found that many physicians failed to recommend mammograms or perform clinical breast exams, especially for minority and low-income women. Women who were less educated and lived in rural areas were also less likely to get mammograms or clinical breast exams. Barriers to breast self-examination included lack of information about breast cancer risks and embarrassment.