The Risk Perception Paradox—Implications for Governance and Communication of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23312980 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gisela Wachinger (Department of Social Sciences V: Environmental Sociology and Technology Assessment University of Stuttgart Stuttgart Germany), Ortwin Renn (0000-0002-2283-4247, Department of Social Sciences V: Environmental Sociology and Technology Assessment University of Stuttgart Stuttgart Germany, corresponding author), Chloe Begg (0000-0003-3563-3214, Department Urban and Environmental Sociology Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ Leipzig Germany), Christian Kuhlicke (0000-0002-1193-228X, Department Urban and Environmental Sociology Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ Leipzig Germany) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1049-1065 |
| Publication date | 2013-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Risk Analysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0272-4332 • E-ISSN: 1539-6924 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01942.x |
| PMID | 23278120 |
| OpenAlex | W1950669244 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 593 |
| References cited | 62 |
This article reviews the main insights from selected literature on risk perception, particularly in connection with natural hazards. It includes numerous case studies on perception and social behavior dealing with floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, wild fires, and landslides. The review reveals that personal experience of a natural hazard and trust—or lack of trust—in authorities and experts have the most substantial impact on risk perception. Cultural and individual factors such as media coverage, age, gender, education, income, social status, and others do not play such an important role but act as mediators or amplifiers of the main causal connections between experience, trust, perception, and preparedness to take protective actions. When analyzing the factors of experience and trust on risk perception and on the likeliness of individuals to take preparedness action, the review found that a risk perception paradox exists in that it is assumed that high risk perception will lead to personal preparedness and, in the next step, to risk mitigation behavior. However, this is not necessarily true. In fact, the opposite can occur if individuals with high risk perception still choose not to personally prepare themselves in the face of a natural hazard. Therefore, based on the results of the review, this article offers three explanations suggesting why this paradox might occur. These findings have implications for future risk governance and communication as well as for the willingness of individuals to invest in risk preparedness or risk mitigation actions.
Business · Computer security · Corporate governance · Geography · Hazard · Natural hazard · Perception · Political science · Preparedness · Public relations · Risk assessment · Risk Governance · Risk management · Risk perception · Computer Science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Flood Risk Assessment and Management · Psychology · Risk Perception and Management · Social Psychology
Losing sight of the threat
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We may not know much about the deep sea, but do we care about mining it
Public opinion about management strategies for a low‐profile species across multiple jurisdictions
Cómo escribir mensajes de alerta frente a inundaciones
Flood risk communication, perception and precautionary behaviours among residents in flood-prone state in North-central, Nigeria
Predictors of risk reduction behavior
Mitigating the Risks in Energy Retrofits of Residential Buildings in China
The Impact of Extreme Precipitation Events and Their Variability on Climate Change Beliefs in the American Public
How Personal Experience Affects Perception of and Decisions Related to Climate Change
Public Attention during Hurricanes Florence and Michael
The Climatology, Vulnerability, and Public Perceptions Associated with Overlapping Tornado and Flash Flood Warnings in a Portion of the Southeast United States
Modeling the Dynamics of Social Preparedness with Regional Interactions to Explore Efficient Flood Early Warning Systems
Do You See What I See? How Media Choice and Visual Tornado Cues Influence Individual Storm Preparation
Social and psychological consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak
The dynamic relationship between sense of place and risk perception in landscapes of mobility
Socio-Economic Impact of and Adaptation to Extreme Heat and Cold of Farmers in the Food Bowl of Nepal
Factors Impacting Risk Perception under Typhoon Disaster in Macao SAR, China
Relaciones intergeneracionales en la construcción social de la percepción del riesgo
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New evidence regarding the role of previous disease experiences on people’s knowledge and learning of medicinal plants and biomedical drugs
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The effects of firm actions on customers’ responses to product recall crises
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From laissez-faire to action? Exploring perceptions of plastic pollution and impetus for action. Insights from Phu Quoc Island
Decentralized Implementation of Flood Resilience Measures – A Blessing or a Curse? Lessons from the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan and the Royal Docks Regeneration
Change of Risk Perception and Risk Communication in County Cork, Ireland after Former Hurricane Ophelia (2017)
Sociologiska perspektiv på coronakrisen
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Effects of disaster education on children's risk perception and preparedness
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Disasters
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Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development
Climate change, natural hazards, and risk perception
Insights into Flood‐Coping Appraisals of Protection Motivation Theory
The Impact of Trust and Risk Perception on the Acceptance of Measures to Reduce Covid‐19 Cases
Household preparedness for natural disasters
The effects of trust in government on earthquake survivors’ risk perception and preparedness in China
The role of climate change risk perception, response efficacy, and psychological adaptation in pro-environmental behavior
Socio-hydrology
What determines flood risk perception? A review of factors of flood risk perception and relations between its basic elements
Public perceptions of the health risks of extreme heat across US states, counties, and neighborhoods
Examining the relationship between weather-related power outages and disaster risk perception
Tailoring generative AI chatbots for multiethnic communities in disaster preparedness communication
An institutional approach to vulnerability
Sustaining a Transformative Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy
Public Health Network Structure and Collaboration Effectiveness during the 2015 Mers Outbreak in South Korea
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Factors Influencing Public Participation in Community Disaster Mitigation Activities
An Analysis of Rural Households’ Earthquake-Resistant Construction Behavior
Public Perceptions of Contentious Risk
Capturing the Interplay between Risk Perception and Social Media Posting to Support Risk Response and Decision Making
Farmers’ Adaptive Behaviors to Heavy Metal-Polluted Cultivated Land in Mining Areas
Climate Change Risk Perception in Taiwan
Determinants of Preventive Behaviors for Covid-19 in Japan
Understanding an Environmental Health Risk
The Landscape of Risk Communication Research
Psychological Reactions of Hospital Workers to a Pandemic
The perception of risk in the flood-prone area
Exposure to Flood Hazards in Miami and Houston
Dreams and data
Is “Perceived Water Insecurity” Associated with Disaster Risk Perception, Preparedness Attitudes, and Coping Ability in Rural China? (A Health-EDRM Pilot Study)
Evaluating Determinants of Environmental Risk Perception for Risk Management in Contaminated Sites
Social Networks, Trust, and Disaster-Risk Perceptions of Rural Residents in a Multi-Disaster Environment
Public attitudes toward technological hazards after a technological disaster
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Living at the edge of an interface area in Zimbabwe
Trait emotional intelligence and ecological outcomes
A Walk in the Park? Examining the Impact of App-Based Weather Warnings on Affective Reactions and the Search for Information in a Virtual City
Netizens’ risk perception in new coronary pneumonia public health events
Faire face aux défis climatiques, opportunités et freins de l’action à Saint-André-de-Kamouraska. Étude des modes de gouvernance des acteurs-clefs de la gestion des risques
The Socio-Environmental Impact in the Adjacent Settlements of a Former Foundry
One community at a time”
Trusting the Health System and Covid 19 Restriction Compliance
Getting ready for mega disasters
Official social media and its impact on public behavior during the first wave of Covid-19 in China
Does Information Pattern Affect Risk Perception of Food Safety? A National Survey in China
The impacts of knowledge, risk perception, emotion and information on citizens’ protective behaviors during the outbreak of Covid-19
Population Preparedness for Disasters and Extreme Weather Events as a Predictor of Building a Resilient Society
General Population Knowledge about Extreme Heat
The impacts of knowledge and attitude on behavior of antibiotic use for the common cold among the public and identifying the critical behavioral stage
Food Safety Trust, Risk Perception, and Consumers’ Response to Company Trust Repair Actions in Food Recall Crises
Association between Health Literacy and Radiation Anxiety among Residents after a Nuclear Accident
Scientometric Analysis of Disaster Risk Perception
Knowledge and Attitudes towards Handling Eggs in the Home
The Relation between Self-Reported Worry and Annoyance from Air and Road Traffic
Association of Internet Use with Attitudes Toward Food Safety in China
Drivers of disaster planning among African-American households
Communication-related vulnerability at the last mile
Exploring the Linkages between Quality of Life, Risk Perception, and Preparedness Behavior
Enhancing Public Response to Meteorological Disaster Warnings
Transformational adaptation when incremental adaptations to climate change are insufficient
The manifold nature of interpersonal relations
People's behaviour in the face of volcanic hazards
Risk perception and volcanic hazard mitigation
The public and effective risk communication
An Analysis of the Public Perception of Flood Risk on the Belgian Coast
Dependence of flood risk perceptions on socioeconomic and objective risk factors
The missing link between flood risk awareness and preparedness
Communication of emergency public warnings
Flooding Risks
Does Communicating (Flood) Risk Affect (Flood) Risk Perceptions? Results of a Quasi‐Experimental Study
Flood risk perceptions and spatial multi-criteria analysis
Risk communication and natural hazard mitigation
Mass media coverage of technological and environmental risks
The Psychology of Risk
The Psychology of Risk
The Social Amplification of Risk
Risk Communication
Disaster preparedness and perception of flood risk
The Protective Action Decision Model
Natural Hazards and Motivation for Mitigation Behavior
Emotions, Trust, and Perceived Risk
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Perception of Hazards
The Media and Genetically Modified Foods
Modelling Community Preparation for Natural Hazards
Linking experience, education, perception and earthquake preparedness
Flood risk management for the RUA of Hanoi
Impact of a Community Disaster Awareness Training Program in Turkey
Public orders and personal opinions
How to get there? Assessing motorists' flash flood risk perception on daily itineraries
Perceived risk and tampering with nature
Are flood victims more concerned about climate change than other people? The role of direct experience in risk perception and behavioural response
Victim pressure, institutional inertia and climate change adaptation
Cognitive Factors Affecting Homeowners' Reactions to Defensible Space in the Oregon Coast Range
Local stakeholders’ perception of muddy flood risk and implications for management approaches
The Risks from Flooding
It'll never happen to me
| Unique citing works | 593 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 45,62 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 556 |