Risk Aversion

When attempting to evaluate the risk that a situation poses- http://economics.uchicago.edu/pdf/Pesendorfer040306.pdf People fear what they don’t know- so the less you understand about a topic, when considering that as a path, the more fear regarding that path and the higher-risk that path is regarded and the lower likelihood of following it. If a certain level of lack of knowledge is reached (which may be different in different people due to variations in strength of fear reaction or of connection of fear to risk or willingness to take risks) is it likely that what is perceived to be high risk is in fact by definition in reality low risk as most of the risk that is perceived can be attributed to said lack of knowledge rather than real factors. How might this be represented (statistically, psychologically, mathematically or otherwise). How effective would this knowledge be (remembering that knowledge reduces fear) be in then altering responses to a given situation?