Shaping Risk Perception Research Articles

From power to financial risk: The mediating role of cognitive flexibility and risk perception

Risky decisions made by powerful individuals have significant financial implications for businesses and society. Understanding the factors influencing these decisions is crucial. Research indicates that people with a high sense of power are more prone to take investment and gambling risks, yet the role of individual differences remains underexplored. This study (N = 245) investigates cognitive flexibility as a potential mediator between power and financial risk-taking. Results reveal that a sense of power enhances cognitive flexibility and reduces risk perception in both investment and gambling contexts. Consequently, powerful individuals exhibit an increased propensity for risky financial behaviors. Furthermore, a serial mediation effect was identified, showing that cognitive flexibility and risk perception together mediate the relationship between power and risky financial choices. These findings offer novel insights into how cognitive flexibility can explain the link between power and financial risk-taking, highlighting its role in shaping risk perception and decision-making processes.

The role of communications on the relationship between feelings for and intention to visit a country with ongoing conflicts

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how feelings for a country influence visitation to conflict-ridden destinations. It also examines the moderating effect of communications – news about terror or pictures of the place’s attractions – and whether the pictures counteract the damaging news.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the influence that feelings for a country have on visitation intentions, via the destination’s perceived risk and overall image. Furthermore, an experimental design is used to test the moderating influence of two communications stimuli. The sample consists of 309 individuals from the USA who were randomly exposed to various stimuli.FindingsThe findings confirm that feelings for the country shape risk perceptions, overall destination image and visitation intentions. Communications moderate the influence of these emotions. In addition, pictures of the destination’s attractions mitigate the adverse effect of negative news.Research limitations/implicationsThe investigation focuses on Turkey, a popular tourist destination, despite being subject to biases due to its geopolitical situation and ongoing armed conflict. The findings suggest that conflict-ridden destination managers should understand and use emotions, distinguishing between country and destination, while emphasizing the place’s attractions with visual communications to counter negative country reports.Originality/valueThis research contributes a comprehensive model that explains the impact that feelings for a country have on visitation decisions, highlighting the mediating role of risk perceptions and destination image. Furthermore, the study underlines the moderating role of communications, both positive and negative, that shape the effect of the emotions on the studied variables.

Investigating the influence of residents' attitudes, perceptions of risk, and subjective norms on their willingness to engage in flood prevention efforts in Freetown, Sierra Leone

This study investigates the intricate relationships between flood disaster risk perception (RP), attitudes(ATT), subjective norms(SN), and participation in flood prevention activities(IPF), emphasizing the mediating roles of self-efficacy(SE) and bonding social capital(BSC). The research in Freetown, Sierra Leone, involved 702 participants, providing a diverse socio-demographic snapshot crucial for understanding community-based flood risk management. Data analysis revealed that demographic factors like age, gender, education, and income significantly influence flood risk perceptions and mitigation behaviors. Additionally, subjective norms were found to substantially impact both self-efficacy and bonding social capital, affecting participation in flood prevention activities. The study also explored the role of community dynamics and social norms in shaping risk perceptions and intentions to engage in flood risk prevention. It was observed that higher self-efficacy and more robust community bonds lead to increased participation in flood mitigation efforts. The findings offer valuable insights into flood prevention behavior's psychological and social drivers and highlight the importance of community-focused strategies in enhancing flood resilience. The study contributes to the broader understanding of flood risk management in urban settings, particularly in developing countries, and underscores the need for policies and practices that foster individual empowerment and collective community action.

Understanding the role of hope in climate change risk perception: a cross-sectional study

Italy is experiencing the negative effects of climate change, which is causing considerable damage. Evidence of the damage is increasing citizens’ concern about climate change. According to many researchers, investigating the factors that drive and shape risk perception of climate change is of paramount importance to predicting public willingness to help combat it. Recently, the Climate Change Risk Perception model (CCRPM) was validated, showing its efficacy. However, the CCRPM does not consider some psychological variables related to people’s confidence that climate change can be mitigated. The purpose of the present study is to replicate CCRPM in the Italian context and to shed light on whether the addition of the Climate Change Hope variable can improve the explanatory power of this model. Results indicate that the CCRPM explains 49% of the variance of climate change risk perception and the addition of Climate Change Hope improves the model. Knowledge of impacts of climate change, social norms, value orientations, affect, and personal experience with extreme weather events were all identified as significant predictors. Affective and social norms factors explained significantly more variance in risk perception than other variables. These results suggest that climate change risk perception is a complex and multidimensional construct and that risk communicators should take an integrative approach by stimulating citizens’ affective and experiential processing mechanisms.

Innovations in Risk Measurement and Management for Strategic Financing Decisions

This study aims to explore the integration of innovative quantitative models, behavioral finance insights, and advanced analytics techniques in contemporary risk management practices to bolster organizations' resilience and informed decision-making within dynamic financial landscapes. Through a systematic literature review spanning disciplines such as finance, psychology, and technology, this research synthesizes diverse insights to comprehensively understand the evolving nature of risk management strategies. The findings elucidate that incorporating advanced quantitative models like Value at Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) empowers organizations to meticulously assess and quantify financial risks, thereby enhancing risk management accuracy and granularity. Furthermore, the assimilation of behavioral finance insights illuminates the psychological determinants shaping risk perception and decision-making behaviors, leading to the development of more robust risk management frameworks that accommodate both rational and irrational factors. Moreover, leveraging advanced analytics techniques, notably natural language processing (NLP) algorithms, enables proactive risk management by analyzing textual data and market sentiments with heightened precision. This study underscores the imperative of perpetual innovation and adaptability in risk management practices to adeptly navigate the intricacies of modern financial landscapes. By harnessing emerging technologies, behavioral insights, and interdisciplinary methodologies, organizations can fortify their risk management capabilities, mitigate threats, and seize opportunities in today's globally interconnected economy. Addressing the challenges associated with implementing innovative risk management practices necessitates proactive leadership, resource allocation, and organizational culture transformation. Ultimately, this research contributes to advancing the understanding and application of innovative risk measurement and management approaches, fostering sustainable growth and success for organizations.

Exploring Personality Traits’ Impact on Risk Perception in Mobile Payments

ABSTRACT The integration of mobile/smartphones into daily life represents a fundamental aspect of modern living. With the increasing number of mobile users, businesses face a critical need to offer customers the convenience of mobile phone payments. However, widespread adoption faces resistance due to perceived risks, a concern influenced by individual personalities. This study delves into how personality traits affect perceptions of risk, impacting the adoption of mobile payments. The findings provide concrete evidence of personality’s significant role in determining the intention to use mobile payment. Notably, the study reveals a correlation between traits such as openness and agreeableness with the perception of risk linked to mobile payments. Moreover, the perceived risk associated with mobile payments was found to significantly influence individuals’ intentions to use this payment channel. The study illuminates how personalities shape risk perceptions, shedding light on the vital interplay between personal traits and the adoption of mobile payment technologies.

Factors Toward Risk Influencing Millennials Willingness to Invest in Peer-to-Peer Lending

The objective of this study is to analyze the factors influencing the risk perception that affects millennials' willingness to invest in P2P lending. To achieve this goal, a conceptual model was developed involving variables such as financial literacy, company reputation, information security awareness, risk perception, and intention to invest. The sample consisted of 220 respondents, and data were collected through a questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling and SmartPLS Statistical Software were used to examine the data. The study’s results suggest that, while financial literacy does not significantly affect risk perception, firm reputation and information security knowledge do. The findings also demonstrate that risk perception has a major impact on the intention to invest. The implications of this research highlight the importance of reputation and information security in shaping risk perception in the fintech sector. Fintech companies should prioritize building a strong reputation through good service, transparency, and authentic communication, as well as implementing robust cybersecurity measures to protect investor data. Financial practitioners also need to educate investors about risks and emphasize the importance of reputation and information security in decision-making, providing guidance in risk assessment and management aligned with investors' goals and risk tolerance.

The Relationship Between Perceived Uncontrollable Mortality Risk and Health Effort: Replication, Secondary Analysis, and Mini Meta-analysis.

The Uncontrollable Mortality Risk Hypothesis (UMRH) states that those who are more likely to die due to factors beyond their control should be less motivated to invest in preventative health behaviors. Greater levels of perceived uncontrollable mortality risk (PUMR) have been associated with lower health effort in previous research, but the topic remains understudied. To examine the evidence for the UMRH by replicating a previous study investigating the effects of PUMR on social gradients in health effort, and conducting a mini meta-analysis of the overall relationship between PUMR and health effort. We replicated Pepper and Nettle (2014), who reported a negative relationship between PUMR and health effort, and that the positive effect of subjective socioeconomic position on health effort was explained away by PUMR. We also compared the predictive effect of PUMR on health effort with that of dimensions from the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale-a well-used measure of a similar construct, which is frequently found to be associated with health behavior. Finally, we conducted a mini meta-analysis of the relationship between PUMR and health effort from the available research. PUMR was negatively associated with health effort, and mediated 24% of the total effect of subjective socioeconomic position on health effort, though this mediation effect was weaker than in Pepper and Nettle (2014). PUMR was shown to be a substantially stronger predictor of health effort than the relevant dimensions of the MHLC scale. Finally, our mini meta-analysis indicated a medium-sized negative relationship between PUMR and health effort. Our findings offer support for the role of PUMR in mediating the relationship between subjective socioeconomic position and health effort. The results highlight the importance of measuring and understanding PUMR in studying socioeconomic inequalities in health behaviors. We discuss potential areas for future research, including determining the accuracy of PUMR, investigating influential cues, examining the role of media in shaping risk perceptions, and understanding individuals' awareness of their own perceptions of mortality risk.

A psychological model of collective risk perceptions

Abstract Decades of research seek to understand how people form perceptions of risk by modeling either individual-level psychological processes or broader social and organizational mechanisms. Yet, little formal theoretical work has focused on the interaction of these 2 sets of factors. In this paper, I contribute to closing this gap by modifying a psychologically rich individual model of probabilistic reasoning to account for the transmission and collective emergence of risk perceptions. Using data from 357 individuals, I present experimental evidence in support of my main building assumptions and demonstrate the empirical validity of my model. Incorporating these results into an agent-based setting, I simulate over 1.5 billion social interactions to analyze the emergence of risk perceptions within organizations under different information frictions (i.e., limits on the availability and precision of social information). My results show that by focusing on information quality (rather than availability), groups and organizations can more effectively boost the accuracy of their emergent risk perceptions. This work offers researchers a formal framework to analyze the relationship between psychological and organizational factors in shaping risk perceptions.

Apocalypse now or later? Nuclear war risk perceptions mirroring media coverage and emotional tone shifts in Italian news

Abstract This study delves into the progression of nuclear war risk perceptions during the initial 6 months of the Ukraine war. It particularly investigated the influence of Italian media coverage changes and the affective tone of war representation. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, two separate yet interconnected studies were conducted. The first study employed web scraping and keyword selection techniques to assess emotional language and quantify war-related content in the headlines of Italian online newspapers from March to July 2022. Results demonstrated a linear decrease in war-related news and an emotional shift, with a significant decrease in fear and an increase in joy noted between March and May. The second study examined nuclear war risk perceptions at an individual level, surveying a panel of 397 Italians at three distinct points during the same time frame. The findings revealed a similarity between the media’s affective tone and individuals’ affective risk perceptions. Analytic risk perception, in contrast, showed a linear decrease that matched the decline in war-related news volume. The study found preexisting individual differences, among women and older participants, to be significant determinants in shaping risk perception evolution. These groups exhibited higher initial risk perceptions and more resistance to change as the scenario unfolded. This research contributes to the existing body of work that underscores the media’s role in influencing risk perceptions by illuminating the relationship between media representation of the Ukraine war and individual-level affective risk perception. Furthermore, it highlights individual differences as significant moderators of risk perception change during a crisis.

Do professionals really matter? Top executive legal expertise and firm lawsuits

PurposeThis study aims to use institutional and upper echelons theories to comprehensively investigate the intricate interplay between TMT legal expertise and firms' adaptive strategies in legal contexts, notably within emerging economies. It explores how upper echelons experiences shape opportunistic compliance strategies, impacting value and risk perceptions. Drawing on upper echelons theory, the research probes how TMT legal expertise molds firms’ involvement in significant lawsuits, accounting for influential roles. It scrutinizes TMT’s impact on legal strategies, positing that managerial discretion emerges from environmental factors, organizational attributes and executive traits. The study underscores TMT’s internal incentives and external factors’ interplay, molding strategic legal engagement.Design/methodology/approachTo validate this framework, statistical analysis is performed on data from 2,584 Chinese-listed firms. The data set spans 2010–2015, with 5,713 material lawsuits. Chosen due to reliable institutional-level incentives data from the China Market Index Database, years 2016–2019 are excluded for methodological disparities. Moreover, 2007–2009 is omitted to mitigate the potential financial crisis impact. This study’s 11,272 observations ensure robust empirical exploration, offering insights into the interplay of TMT legal expertise, institutional factors and firms’ legal strategies.FindingsThe study reveals that firms led by executives with legal expertise are more prone to engage in significant lawsuits, indicating strategic use of legal skills. TMT age moderates this, with older teams less likely to engage. TMT tenure’s effect remains unclear due to tenure-risk preference complexity. Institutional factors matter; less legally mature regions reduce managers’ legal risk intention. Results confirm hypotheses and highlight executive human capital’s impact on firms’ legal strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThis study acknowledges contributions while highlighting limitations, including the need for detailed distinctions in lawsuit roles and exploration of heterogeneous TMT power dynamics. Further research is proposed for nuanced power dynamics and comprehensive TMT legal background data. The study advances upper echelons theory by introducing TMT legal expertise as a factor influencing strategic lawsuit behavior. It challenges institutional theory by showing the adaptable legal context, beyond fixed constraints. Moderating factors – group risk attitude and external knowledge – deepen understanding of upper echelons’ impact. Enhanced data collection is encouraged to address limitations and refine findings.Practical implicationsThis study’s implications extend to managerial practices. Firms should acknowledge the dynamic legal system, using TMT legal expertise for strategic legal challenges. Executives should pragmatically approach regulations. While legal professionals enhance compliance, caution is needed in selecting TMT members with legal expertise due to the risk of misusing it for unnecessary litigation, potentially misaligned with financial performance goals.Originality/valueThis study combines institutional and upper echelons theories to explore TMT legal expertise’s impact on firms’ adaptive strategies in emerging economies. It challenges the idea of a universally constraining legal environment and highlights how TMT legal expertise enhances firms’ management of complex legal risks. The research introduces TMT legal expertise as an influencing factor in strategic lawsuits, revealing nuanced relationships between legal contexts and strategic decisions. The findings enrich upper echelons theory, challenge conventional institutional views and identify moderating factors that deepen the understanding of upper echelons’ influence in legal landscapes.

Awareness and risk perception of a multi-hazard megacity: The case of adolescent students

Gaining a better understanding of adolescents’ multi-hazards awareness and risk perception may help to devise measures to aid them to respond to multi-hazards in a highly dense and complex city. To date, there has not been published research on multi-hazards in Mexico City. This study aims to fill that gap by assessing adolescents’ awareness and risk perception to a sample of n = 1,246 from seven preparatory schools. An ordinal logistic regression approach was employed to find the relationship between the explanatory factors and the likelihood of the multi-hazard occurrence. The research results show that in general, adolescents are aware of the negative effects of fire & explosion, crime, earthquake, air pollution and floods; however, they were unaware of the negative effects of severe climate, landslides, and volcanic eruption. Students attending evening-shift schooling contributed negatively to earthquakes, severe weather, and air pollution risk perception, even though these hazards are the most prevalent in the city. The projected probability of the likelihood of floods, earthquakes, air pollution and crime increase with age. Overall, the findings revealed that adolescents’ awareness and risk perception vary among the hazards. Also, the characteristics of the hazards and the adolescents shape risk perception, which is consistent with similar studies being conducted on adults. It is hoped that by conducting studies such as the presented herein may help to gain a better understanding of multi-hazards and build resilience and increase vulnerability of residents living under a permanent threat of these.

Using the Health Belief Model to assess COVID-19 perceptions and behaviours among a group of Egyptian adults: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundIt is crucial to study the public’s perceptions and behaviour during a pandemic as this will be the driving force for practicing recommended precautions. The current study aimed to identify perceptions of a group of Egyptian adults to COVID-19 using the Health Belief Model (HBM), to measure self-reported practice of preventive behaviours and to identify influencing factors.MethodsCross sectional study was used, including Egyptian adults aged 18 + years. A structured anonymous online questionnaire was used including: a demographic section, the modified MERS- CoV Health Belief Model scale after addition of questions related to COVID-19 and questions on preventive behaviours to COVID-19.ResultsOf the 532 study participants, 28.6% were males, age ranges (18 to 74 years). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between total practice score and all COVID-19 Health Belief Model constructs total scores except for perceived barriers score showing negative correlation (P value < 0.05). Linear regression analysis showed that older age, male gender and living inside Cairo were associated with lower practice score (P value < 0.01).ConclusionsIncreased perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, cues to action and perceived self-efficacy scores were associated with higher practice score in the current study. Additionally, results revealed that social media and websites can play an important role in shaping risk perception in the community. Stressing risk perception and efficacy beliefs prevention message can drive people to practice preventive behaviors.

The Risk Culture Framework: Introducing an Integrative Framework for Holistic Risk Analysis

Risk culture shapes individual, group, organizational, and societal risk perception, and behavior, and, therefore, is a promising concept in risk analysis. Risk culture concepts are popular among practitioners since they have the potential to integrate different research strands and provide practical guidelines. However, such concepts are still ill-defined, and their empirical foundations are limited. We introduce a new framework for risk culture derived from research on organizational culture and risk climate that aims to overcome the shortcomings of current models. The Risk Culture Framework is a 3 × 3 matrix that differentiates three influence domains (i.e., person, social context, and risk situation) and three cultural layers (i.e., observable, non-observable, and implicit factors). The framework can be applied in different contexts and fields of risk research. Each cell of the matrix can be filled with specific, proven factors relevant to the context of interest. The framework aims to enable the integration of different disciplines and approaches, to enlarge the understanding of mechanisms that shape risk perception and behavior, to navigate the conception of research studies, to provide a blueprint for comprehensive risk measures, to guide practical risk analysis, and to facilitate benchmarking for appropriate risk cultures. Considerations for the application of the Risk Culture Framework, as well as its validation through future research, are outlined.

An artificial intelligence perspective: How knowledge and confidence shape risk and benefit perception

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications are increasingly used in everyday life. Whereas some are widely accepted (e.g., automatically compiled playlists), others are highly controversial (e.g., using AI in the classroom). The public discourse reveals a somewhat ambiguous perception of AI, with enthusiasm about the tremendous positive potential of AI on the one hand and growing concerns about the existential dangers of uncontrolled artificial intelligence on the other hand. Thus, understanding the underlying mechanisms of what shapes people's perceptions of AI is vital to help explain AI usage and acceptance trends. In our research, we take a cognitive approach by measuring the perceived risks and benefits of AI applications considering people's knowledge and confidence in their knowledge. To this end, we assessed in two studies (N = 394 and N = 437; representative) how knowledge about AI and confidence in AI knowledge is related to participants' risk-benefit perception of AI scenarios from three domains: media, medicine, and autonomous driving. Results showed that both AI knowledge and confidence in AI knowledge are predictors regarding people's risk-benefit perception beyond people's attitudes towards AI. More specifically, people with more knowledge about AI exhibited so-called risk blindness; that is, they underestimated the risks. On the other hand, higher confidence in one's AI knowledge impacted participants' benefit assessment. Knowledge and confidence thus open a new dimension of understanding people's perception of risks and benefits in AI.

Perception of health risks in contexts of extreme climate change in semiarid Northeastern Brazil: an analysis of the role of socioeconomic variables

BackgroundGlobal climate change poses a significant challenge in contemporary society, particularly affecting vulnerable populations like small farmers residing in arid and semiarid regions. This study aims to investigate the perception of health risks and adaptive responses in the semiarid region of Northeast Brazil (NEB). Four questions were formulated: (1) How do socioeconomic factors influence the perception of health risks during extreme climate events? (2) How do socioeconomic factors impact the adoption of adaptive responses to mitigate health risks during extreme weather events? (3) How does the perceived risk level affect the utilization of adaptive responses? (4) What is the influence of extreme climate events on the perceived risks and the adoption of adaptive responses?MethodThe research was conducted in the rural community of Carão, situated in the Agreste region of the State of Pernambuco, NEB. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 volunteers aged 18 and above. The interviews aimed to gather socioeconomic information, including sex, age, income, access to healthcare services, family size, and education level. Additionally, the interviews explored the perceived risks and responses employed during different extreme climate events such as droughts or heavy rainfall. The perceived risks and adaptive responses data were quantified to address the research questions. Generalized linear models were employed to analyze the data for the first three questions, while the nonparametric Mann–Whitney test was used for the fourth question.ResultsThe study found no significant differences in the level of perceived risk and adaptive responses between the two climate extremes. However, the quantity of adaptive responses was found to be directly influenced by the perceived risks, regardless of the type of extreme climate event.ConclusionThe study concludes that risk perception is influenced by various complex factors, including socioeconomic variables, and plays a critical role in the adoption of adaptive responses during extreme climate events. The findings suggest that specific socioeconomic variables have a more pronounced influence on how individuals perceive and adapt to risks. Furthermore, the results indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between perceived risks and the generation of adaptive responses. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the factors shaping risk perception and provide valuable insights for future studies in regions prone to extreme climate events.

Blaming the unvaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic: the roles of political ideology and risk perceptions in the USA

Individuals unvaccinated against COVID-19 (C19) experienced prejudice and blame for the pandemic. Because people vastly overestimate C19 risks, we examined whether these negative judgements could be partially understood as a...

Linking cognitive and affective heuristic cues to interpersonal risk perceptions and behavior.

People often use cognitive and affective heuristics when judging the likelihood of a health outcome and making health decisions. However, little research has examined how heuristics shape risk perceptions and behavior among people who make decisions on behalf of another person. We examined associations between heuristic cues and caregivers' perceptions of their child's asthma risk, the frequency of caregivers' asthma management behaviors, and child health outcomes. We used Ipsos KnowledgePanel to recruit 814 U.S. adult caregivers of children with asthma of the age<18 years. Participants completed a survey at baseline (T1) and 3 months later (T2). Caregivers who, at T1, reported greater negative affect about their child's asthma (affect heuristic cue), greater ease of imagining their child experiencing asthma symptoms (availability heuristic cue), and greater perceived similarity between their child and a child who has ever experienced asthma symptoms (representativeness heuristic cue) reported statistically significantly (p<0.05) higher interpersonal perceived risk of their child having an exacerbation or uncontrolled asthma at T1. They also indicated at T2 that their child had poorer asthma control and more frequent exacerbations. Greater T1 negative affect was associated with more frequent T2 actions to reduce inflammation, manage triggers, and manage symptoms, and with poorer T2 child health outcomes. Heuristic cues are likely important for interpersonal-not just personal-risk perceptions. However, the interrelationship between caregivers' ratings of heuristic cues (in particular, negative affect) and risk judgments may signify a struggle with managing their child's asthma and need for extra support from health care providers or systems.

Misinformation and the Paradox of Trust during the covid-19 pandemic in the U.S.: pathways to Risk perception and compliance behaviors

As declared “infodemic” by the World Health Organization, the proliferation of Covid-19 misinformation has posed a significant challenge to public health efforts to tackle the pandemic. Despite initial evidence on the association between misinformation and behavior, researchers have yet to fully identify intervening variables to account for the behavioral effects of Covid-19 misinformation. To address this question, this study aims to examine whether and how consuming misinformation would predict public trust in health and political institutions, and in turn, shape risk perception and adherence to preventive behaviors. We conducted a web-based survey using a nationally representative sample of 1,400 U.S. adults in October 2020. We found that Covid-19 misinformation exposure was linked to lower trust in public health experts but higher trust in government, which led to a decrease in the perceived severity of Covid-19 and less compliance with public health guidance. Our findings uncover the complex social and psychological processes by which misinformation consumption undermines public health efforts during the pandemic crisis.

The paradoxical effects of institutional trust on risk perception and risk management in the Covid-19 pandemic: evidence from three societies

Adopting the theoretical lenses of social amplification of risk framework and trust paradox, this study examines how people’s attention to media information influences their risk perception and risk management behaviors (i.e. vaccination intention) in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic in three Chinese societies (i.e. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China). A total of 9,575 valid samples were obtained via online survey panels. The results revealed that media attention significantly influenced risk perception and risk management across the three societies. Institutional trust, however, could amplify or attenuate risk perception and risk management in different societies: While institutional trust was found to have a positive impact on people’s risk perception in Taiwan and Mainland China, a negative impact was discovered in Hong Kong. Moreover, different dimensions of institutional trust, which we term ability-based trust and benevolence-based trust, were found to mediate the effect of media attention on risk perception and risk management in different societies: While both dimensions were significant mediators for Taiwan, benevolence-based trust and ability-based trust was the only mediator for Mainland China and Hong Kong, respectively. The paradoxical impact of institutional trust on risk perception and risk management is explained with contextual factors specific to each of the three societies, supplemented with post-hoc analysis on how publics assign risk management responsibility to risk management institutions in different societies. Overall, the results provide empirical support to the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) by highlighting the roles of media and institutions as social stations that shape risk perception.