to individuals, who are more concerned about risks to themselves rather than risks to society.13 Using risks as proxies or surrogates for other personal, societal, economic, cultural, or political agendas and concerns: The specific risks that people focus on reflect their beliefs about values, social institutions, and moral behavior. Risks and crises may be exaggerated or minimized under their personal, societal, economic, cultural, or political agendas, priorities, and concerns. Debates about risks often serve as proxies or surrogates for debates about high concern issues. The debate about nuclear power, for example, is sometimes less about the specific risks of nuclear power than about other issues such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the adverse effects of nuclear waste disposal, the value of large‐scale technological progress and growth, and the centralization of political and economic power in the hands of a technological elite.
Table 3.5 Factors that affect the ability of people to make informed decisions about risks.
| Inaccurate perceptions of riskDifficulties in understanding statistical or complex scientific information related to unfamiliar activities or technologiesStrong emotional responses to risk informationDesires and demands for scientific certaintyStrong beliefs and opinions that resist change and distort understandingWeak beliefs and opinions that can be manipulated by the way information is presented and framedIgnoring or dismissing risk information because of its perceived lack of personal relevanceUsing risks as proxies or surrogates for other personal, societal, economic, cultural, or political agendas and concerns |
Cultural factors, such as values, norms, social networks, group memberships, and loyalties, have a profound effect on agenda setting and what risks are important. Cultural factors are the web of meaning shared by members of a society. This web is a shared system of beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that group members used to cope with their world and with one another. Integrating diversity and cultural differences into the risk communication process can be challenging. To meet the challenge, risk communicators must develop cultural competence. Cultural competence requires communicators to be aware of their own cultural biases, develop in‐depth knowledge of other cultures, and have a willingness to accept and respect diversity.
3.3 Changes in How the Brain Processes Information Under Conditions of High Stress
The brain processes information differently in low‐stress and high‐stress situation. Neuroscience and behavioral science research studies show that when people are fearful, stressed or upset, they typically:
1 Want to “know that you care before they care what you know.”Perceptions of caring, empathy, and listening account for as much as 50% of how people determine whether they trust an individual or organization.Trust is often determined in the first 9‐30 seconds.Once lost, trust is difficult to regain.
2 Have difficulty hearing, understanding, and remembering information.Fear, stress, and anxiety can reduce the ability to process information by up to 80%‐100%.Ninety‐five percent of the questions and concerns that cause fear, stress, and anxiety can be anticipated and prepared for in advance.
3 Receive information best when presented in small digestible chunks and bytes.Key messages ideally contain no more than 140 characters, 27 words, and 3‐5 messages, with each message supported and expanded by 3‐5 facts or additional information.
4 Are more likely to recall information they hear first and last.Provide the most important information first.Provide the second most important last.Prepare for people to ignore or forget messages not announced first or last.Repeat the first and last messages several times.
5 Process information at a grade level substantially below their formal educational attainment.Keep initial messages short and simple, often four grade levels below formal educational attainment.Use a variety of tools, such as visuals, to simplify risk information.
6 Will focus more on negative information than positive.Negative information typically needs to be balanced by three to five pieces of positive or constructive information.Avoid negative absolute statements (e.g., statements that contain the words never, nothing, or none.)Avoid words or phrases with high negative imagery (these typically go to the visual part of the brain for processing and “stick”).
7 Judge risks to a large extent based on perceptions of trust, benefits, personal control, dread, fairness, and voluntariness.As much as 95% of fear, anxiety, and stress caused by risks can be traced back to factors such as perceived trust, benefits, personal control, dread, fairness, and voluntariness.
8 Actively look for visual information to support verbal messages about risks.People often give greater weight to nonverbal cues and visual information than verbal information.People in high concern and high‐stress situations often assign a negative interpretation to nonverbal cues, such as body language.A significant amount of risk and high concern information is processed in primitive parts of the brain (the lizard or reptilian brain) that focuses on nonverbal information and determines the response of fight, freeze, or flight.
3.4 Risk Communication Theory
An understanding of risk communication theory is helpful in understanding the various risk communication strategies and messaging. As shown in Figure 3.2, there are four basic risk and high concern communication theories: trust determination theory, negative dominance theory, mental noise theory, and risk perception theory. These four theories are the foundation stones on which risk communication rests.6
Figure 3.2 Risk and high concern communication theories.
3.4.1 Trust Determination Theory
Trust determination theory states that trust is the most powerful factor influencing how people make risk‐related decisions. The more people trust the information source, the more they accept the messages, messengers, and channels for acquiring information. As shown in Figure 3.3, the basic components of trust are caring and empathy; competence and expertise; openness and honesty; and other factors such as dedication and commitment. Based on context, the relative weight given to these factors can shift.
Figure 3.3 The basic components of trust.
Several variables predict a higher level of trust. These include:
acknowledging uncertainty;
transparency, including openness and candidness about negative information;
speed in disseminating risk information;
disseminating technical information that is easy to understand;
seeking input from stakeholders and encouraging constructive dialogue;
ensuring coordination of communication activities within and among risk management
