Social Amplification Of Risk Research Articles

Political identity and risk politics: Evidence from a pandemic.

The way political identity serves as a foundation for political polarization in the United States permits elites to extend conflict rapidly to new issue areas. Further, the types of cognitive mechanisms and shortcuts used in the politically polarized information environment are similar to some of those used in risk perception. Consequently, political elites may easily create partisan risk positions, largely through politically focused social amplification of risk. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a natural experiment for testing predictions about such risk politics. We asked questions about pandemic-related views, behaviors, and policies at the outset of the pandemic in April 2020 and again in September 2020 via public opinion surveys. Our data and analyses focus primarily on a single state, with some analysis extended to four states. We begin by demonstrating strong linkages between political partisan identification on the one hand and support for co-partisan elites, use of partisan information sources, and support for co-partisan policies on the other hand. We then find evidence that pandemic risk positions correspond with partisan information sources and find support for a mechanism involving partisan-tinted evaluation of elite cues. Partisan risk positions quickly became part of the larger polarized structure of political support and views. Finally, our evidence shows on the balance that partisan risk positions related to the pandemic coalesced and strengthened over time. Overall, while self-identified Democrats consistently viewed the coronavirus as the primary threat, self-identified Republicans quickly pivoted toward threats to their freedoms and to the economy.

English-language news representations of the Fukushima nuclear-treated-water discharge at the initial phase in Japan and neighbouring countries

There is a gap in our knowledge that has not been filled much yet: the interplay between uncertainty and transparency, as well as the social amplification of risk and potential manipulation, interconnected with the media agenda-setting theory in risk communication. To fill this gap, this study investigates how China’s, South Korea’s, and Japan’s leading English-language newspapers present their respective stands on the issue of the Fukushima nuclear-treated-water discharge in the initial phase between 1 January 2021 and 31 May 2021. Discourse analysis reveals divergent discourses in the selected newspapers, with The Japan Times employing scientific evidence, discussions of radioactive emission, proactive measures, details on contaminated water treatment, treated water disposal, and counter-blaming tactics to construct the discourse of image protection; China Daily utilising arguments from the politically-driven US-Japan alliance, expert discourse on the lack of a scientific basis, and empathy for the fishery trade to create the discourse of politically-driven public health concern; and The Korea Herald using accusations of Japan’s irresponsibility, historical facts, geopolitical problems, and violations of human rights to construct the blaming discourse. The analysis also reveals the striking similarities among the three press coverages, which underpin the discourse of transnational alignment and shared concerns, highlighting environmental, human health, and economic concerns related to the fishing industry. Even though the three news outlets had different points of view, both CD and TKH focused on the lack of transparency in Japan’s handling of uncertainty in risk communication and the social amplification of risk. In contrast, TJT amplified the safety of the nuclear-treated water discharge to attenuate people’s perceptions of its risk. Theoretically, this study demonstrates the close relationship between the handling of uncertainty in risk communication and transparency, as well as the social amplification of risk and potential manipulation, with practical implications for newsrooms to communicate risks.

Long-term assessment of social amplification of risk during COVID-19: challenges to public health agencies amid misinformation and vaccine stance

This study employs the Social Amplification of Risk Framework to investigate the stance on COVID-19 vaccines and the spread of misinformation on Twitter in Finland. Analyzing over 1.6 million tweets and manually annotating 4150 samples, the research highlights the challenges faced by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in steering online vaccination communication. Using BERT models, Botometer, and additional computational methods, the study classifies text, identifies bot-like accounts, and detects malicious bots. Social network analysis further uncovers the underlying social structures and key actors in Twitter discussions during the pandemic. The THL remained a primary source of COVID-19 information throughout the pandemic, maintaining its influence despite challenges posed by malicious bots spreading misinformation and adopting negative vaccine stances. However, THL ceased its Twitter activity at the end of 2022 because its posts were being exploited to gain visibility and traction for misinformation and negative vaccine stance. The study also identifies key influencers in online vaccine discussions, suggesting avenues for improving public health communication. Overall, the research underscores the need to understand social media dynamics to counter misinformation and foster accurate public communication on COVID-19 and vaccination.

Before amplification: the role of experts in the dynamics of the social attenuation and amplification of risk

In this article, we use system/network theory together with the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) to show how expert actors over time and across multiple events can contribute to social risk amplification and attenuation. The framework and the theory, in particular the concepts of risk emplacement and displacement, are employed in the analysis of an illustrative case related to the use of the feed additive, narasin, and provide explanations of how risks are part of continuously ongoing and dynamic social processes. By emphasizing the role of experts in such developments, connecting what happens in expert communities with the processing of risks and effects on the outside, the analysis shows the larger context within which social risk attenuation and amplification happen. Showing the value of integrating different theories and perspectives, this article lays the foundations for further studies of risk amplification and attenuation dynamics. Based on the results of the analysis, we indicate opportunities to update and further develop the SARF. We also present some implications for public policy and risk management practices including addressing the positive contributions of risk amplification and how this relates to adaptive risk management approaches.

POLITICAL PERSUASION: THE INFLUENCE OF US POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION ON TRAVEL LIKLIHOOD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered people’s travel behaviors. This research, based upon a set of data that encompassed sixteen months of the pandemic, looks at a significant USA sample to determine, from a political perspective, who was most likely to travel at a time when the science and their government were suggesting they stay home. The results, extending prior research, found a strong relationship between political party affiliation and one’s travel proclivity, with Republicans, the conservative American political party, far more likely to have indicated their likelihood to travel during the pandemic than were more liberal Democrats. The theories of Perceived Behavioral Control and Social Amplification of Risk are considered as concepts to help explain the differences between the two segments and serve as guides for the recommendations provided for travel marketing during future crises.

How internet use affects personal privacy risk perception: empirical evidence from China

PurposeThis study aims to empirically examine the relationship between Internet use and personal privacy risk perceptions, the mediating effect of trust and the moderating effect of satisfaction on that relationship, which is exactly conducive to the practice of personal information protection.Design/methodology/approachA moderated mediation model will be employed to test the hypothesized relationships using the 2017 Chinese Society Survey data.FindingsThe authors find that Internet use positively relates to citizens' risk perceptions toward privacy security, and trust partially mediates the relationship between Internet use and privacy risk perception. In addition, the analysis of moderating effects showed that satisfaction with social life significantly enhances the negative impact on individuals' privacy risk perceptions of interpersonal trust. The positively moderating effect of satisfaction with local governments' work mainly reveals the relationship between interpersonal trust (or institutional trust) and citizens' privacy risk perception. Moreover, satisfaction with Internet platforms positively moderates the relationship between consumer trust and privacy risk perception.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the social risk amplification framework by applying it to the personal privacy information protection field, which was rarely discussed before. It also enriches privacy research by identifying the internal mechanism of how Internet use influences citizens' risk perceptions towards privacy information leakage.

CORONAPHOBIA AS PSYCHODYNAMICS AND COPING MECHANISMS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Introduction – Since first appearing in Wuhan at the end of 2019, the corona virus has caused many losses in various aspects of human life. Starting from the physical-psychological aspect of health and socio-economic. Even now, the new policies adopted by the government also have a huge impact on people's daily habits. One of them is affecting a person's psychology, where the news about COVID-19 has been very developed, causing anxiety and fear among the community. With the many stressors that have emerged in this pandemic era, a person is required to have good coping skills to be able to cope with dangerous stimuli. For someone who has a bad coping skills, he will experience excessive fear and anxiety about the corona virus which is called coronaphobia. Methods – The author makes a review of 20 journals and 2 books discussing definitions, risk factors, psychodynamics, coping mechanisms and management of new phobias in this pandemic era. Results – From several literature reviews, the factors identified in this pandemic era were unforeseen reality, unending uncertainties, need of acquiring new practices and avoidance behavior, loss of faith in health infrastructure, contraction of COVID-19 by head of states, cautionary statements from international bodies, and infodemia. Discuss – Several identified factors factors are assumed to cause interference with routine life, catastrophizing interpretation of benign symptoms, and social amplification of risk which lead to coronaphobia. This requires a person to have a good coping mechanism to adapt to new habits of coexistence with this virus. If the coping mechanism of a person is bad, then the stressor will experience a psychosocial process causing a phobia against COVID-19 which is called coronaphobia. Conclusion – Coronaphobia is excessive fear and anxiety due to the various effects of the corona virus, be it related to thoughts, information or the illness it causes. This new phobia is caused by the emergence of several risk factors in this pandemic era, which undergo some psychosocial process. Individuals who use maladaptive coping mechanisms are more likely to engage in risky behavior and experience health problems than those with adaptive mechanisms. Therefore, a good coping strategy is needed to avoid the occurrence of psychological problems such as coronaphobia that often arise during this pandemics. Keywords: coronaphobia, COVID-19, psychodynamic, coping mechanism, fear.

Stuck: How Vaccine Rumors Start—and Why They Won’t Go Away

Stuck: How Vaccine Rumors Start—and Why They Won’t Go Away

Examining COVID-19 Tweet Diffusion Using an Integrated Social Amplification of Risk and Issue-Attention Cycle Framework

ABSTRACT Drawing upon the social amplification of risk (SARF) and the issue-attention cycle framework, we examined the amplification of COVID-19 risk-related tweets through (a) topics: key interests of discussion; (b) temperament: emotions of tweets; (c) topography (i.e., location); and (d) temporality (i.e., over time). We computationally analyzed 1,641,273 tweets, and conducted manual content analysis on a subset of 6,000 tweets to identify how topics, temperament, and topography of COVID-19 tweets were associated with risk amplification – retweet and favorite count – using negative binomial regression. We found 11 dominant COVID-19 topics—health impact, economic impact, reports of lockdowns, report of new cases, the need to stay home, coping with COVID-19, news about President Trump, government support, fight with COVID-19 by non-government entities, origins, and preventive measure in our corpus of tweets across the issue-attention cycle. The negative binomial regression results showed that at the pre-problem stage, topics on President Trump, speculation of origins, and initiatives to fight COVID-19 by non-government entities were most likely to be amplified, underscoring the inherent politicization of COVID-19 and erosion of trust in governments from the start of the pandemic. We also found that while tweets with negative emotions were consistently amplified throughout the issue-attention cycle, surprisingly tweets with positive emotions were amplified during the height of the pandemic – this counter-intuitive finding indicated signs of premature and misplaced optimism. Finally, our results showed that the locations of COVID-19 tweet amplification corresponded to the shifting COVID-19 hotspots across different continents across the issue-attention cycle. Theoretical and practical implications of risk amplification on social media are discussed.

A Study on the Social Amplification of Risk in the Introduction and Diffusion of Innovations: Textual analysis of genetically modified foods and genome-edited foods as case study

A Study on the Social Amplification of Risk in the Introduction and Diffusion of Innovations: Textual analysis of genetically modified foods and genome-edited foods as case study

Social media amplification of risk perceptions of and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination among older Chinese adults

This study aimed to explore whether and how information about COVID-19 vaccines on social media shapes older adults’ perceptions of and attitudes toward vaccinations. The analysis was conducted through the theoretical lens of the social amplification of risk and affect heuristics. A cross-sectional survey of 429 older adults based on a multistage cluster sampling method was conducted in China. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the effects of information exposure and negative affect on older adults’ risk perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines. In contrast to the hypotheses, the findings indicated that information exposure had a significant negative effect on risk perceptions of vaccine efficacy. Furthermore, negative affect led to a significantly positive increase in older adults’ risk perceptions of vaccine efficacy and vaccine safety. Attitudes toward vaccination were associated with information exposure and risk perceptions of the efficacy of vaccines. The interaction effect suggested that information exposure moderated the effects of negative affect on the risk perception of vaccine efficacy. This study advances previous research on social media exposure and vaccine-related risk perceptions in the societal context of Mainland China. Based on the findings of this study, government agencies and media managers should apply appropriate strategies to promote COVID-19 vaccination among older Chinese adults.

Mediating Effects of Attitudes, Risk Perceptions, and Negative Emotions on Coping Behaviors

Based on the perspectives of social risk amplification and the knowledge-attitudes-practice model, this study aimed to test how the level of knowledge about COVID-19 and information sources can predict people's behavioral changes and to examine the effect mechanisms through the mediating roles of attitude, risk perception, and negative emotions in a survey of 498 older Chinese adults. The results showed that (1) older people had a lower level of factual knowledge regarding the variant strains and vaccines; (2) in the information sources-behavior, information sources had a critical influence on elderly individuals' coping behaviors; and (3) in the knowledge-behavior, factual knowledge had a significant effect on elderly individuals' coping behaviors. Specifically, for prevention behaviors, both risk perception and negative emotions played full mediating roles. The findings have significant implications for the development of an effective COVID-19 prevention program to older adults coping with pandemic conditions.

Vaccines and the social amplification of risk.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) named “Vaccine Hesitancy” one of the top 10 threats to global health. Shortly afterward, the COVID‐19 pandemic emerged as the world's predominant health concern. COVID‐19 vaccines of several types have been developed, tested, and partially deployed with remarkable speed; vaccines are now the primary control measure and hope for a return to normalcy. However, hesitancy concerning these vaccines, along with resistance to masking and other control measures, remains a substantial obstacle. The previous waves of vaccine hesitancy that led to the WHO threat designation, together with recent COVID‐19 experience, provide a window for viewing new forms of social amplification of risk (SAR). Not surprisingly, vaccines provide fertile ground for questions, anxieties, concerns, and rumors. These appear in new globalized hyperconnected communications landscapes and in the context of complex human (social, economic, and political) systems that exhibit evolving concerns about vaccines and authorities. We look at drivers, impacts, and implications for vaccine initiatives in several recent historical examples and in the current efforts with COVID‐19 vaccination. Findings and insights were drawn from the Vaccine Confidence Project's decade long monitoring of media and social media and its related research efforts. The trends in vaccine confidence and resistance have implications for updating the social amplification of risk framework (SARF); in turn, SARF has practical implications for guiding efforts to alleviate vaccine hesitancy and to mitigate harms from intentional and unintentional vaccine scares.

Perceiving and managing Brexit risk in UK manufacturing: evidence from the midlands

ABSTRACT This paper assesses the risk implications of Brexit for UK-based, manufacturers, drawing on data generated from semi-structured interviews with senior managers and directors in the advanced manufacturing sector of the West Midlands region of the UK in 2021. The UK’s departure from the EU has led to increased socio-economic risk for manufacturing businesses, requiring careful management by the latter. This paper draws on elements of the Kasperson et al. [1988. The social amplification of risk: A conceptual framework. Risk Analysis, 8(2), 177–187] Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) to explore the communication of risk and uncertainty to businesses, during and post-Brexit discussions. This paper then examines the extent to which risk arises from changes to supply chains and production regimes and in turn examines consequences for the management of risk.

Social amplification of risks and the clean energy transformation: Elaborating on the four attributes of information.

The social amplification of risk framework (SARF) was developed to help comprehend how emerging contributions about the psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of risk could work in unison to impact decision making about risk. The framework proposed that risks are amplified or attenuated by interested parties employing different rhetorical strategies to give information about risk a certain "spin." The original literature identified four "attributes of information." However, despite the longevity of the framework, these have not been explicated in detail. Here we add depth and clarity by examining how amplification stations send risk signals that amplify or attenuate risk by emphasizing these different attributes of information. Drawing on a wealth of qualitative data from two case studies of offshore wind turbine siting off the coasts of Maryland and Delaware and guided by an extensive literature review, we reveal the strategies interested parties are using to influence siting decisions and risk management. The paper explores the usefulness of SARF in organizing qualitative information and sharpening insights on participatory risk governance and the nuances of public responses to a relatively new low-carbon technology. The authors conclude that the framework is valuable for analyzing stakeholder information while also recognizing limitations that may be addressed with some targeted future research.

Does Social Risk Amplification Theory Explain the Resistance to COVID-19 Geo-Localization Applications?

KSA have launched a mobile application which recognizes if there is a confirmed COVID-19 subject in proximity. Its adoption can be explained by technology acceptance models, but the pandemic context involves also the use of a theory dealing with the health risk. This study adapts the Social Amplification of Risk Framework to verify a model explaining three behaviors: information seeking, preventive behavior and resistance to COVID-19 mobile application Tawakkalna. A survey has been distributed to a sample of 312 individuals living in Saudi Arabia. Findings show that media coverage and perceived risk have an impact on negative affective reactions which influence behavior.

Risk sharing on Twitter: Social amplification and attenuation of risk in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

Social media trust and sharing behaviors have considerable implications on how risk is being amplified or attenuated at early stages of pandemic outbreaks and may undermine subsequent risk communication efforts. A survey conducted in February 2020 in the United States examined factors affecting information sharing behaviors and social amplification or attenuation of risk on Twitter among U.S. citizens at the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Building on the social amplification of risk framework (SARF), the study suggests the importance of factors such as online discussion, information seeking behaviors, blame and anger, trust in various types of Twitter accounts and misinformation concerns in influencing the spread of risk information during the incipient stages of a crisis when the publics rely primarily on social media for information. An attenuation of risk was found among the US public, as indicated by the overall low sharing behaviors. Findings also imply that (dis)trust and misinformation concerns on social media sources, and inconsistencies in early risk messaging may have contributed to the attenuation of risk and low risk knowledge among the US publics at the early stage of the outbreak, further problematizing subsequent risk communication efforts.

Chronicling Country-Specific Response to Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa: From the Perspective of Ghana

Health is closely tied to human development and the overall development of a nation. Indeed, throughout history, improved public health has been a major determinant of development. Within this context, the consequences of infectious diseases including the novel Coronavirus are not in doubt. Particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic has destabilized the much-talked about world civilization with many nations still under various infection control measures. Globally, the pandemic has resulted in several losses in the areas of jobs, income, government revenues, foreign direct investments, among others. Beyond the incalculable economic losses, the pandemic constitutes a great threat to physical, social and mental health. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, several studies have been conducted on the experiences of different countries to help deepen global knowledge on the pandemic. This review paper chronicles the Ghanaian experience of COVID-19 and attempts to probe whether the country’s overall response to the disease is worthy of emulation by other nations. Part one introduces the paper by looking at the intersection of health and development, a brief history of COVID-19, challenges associated with the pandemic and measures some countries have employed to rebuild their economies. Part two describes the key issues underpinning the spread of the virus in Ghana whilst part three considers the efforts key stakeholders employed to contain and manage the spread of the virus. Part four focuses on the challenges Ghana has faced in the management of the pandemic whereas the concluding part presents the core issues which should engage the attention of stakeholders. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation, social risk amplification and attenuation theory, health services, development DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/97-03 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

Dynamic Evolution of Public’s Positive Emotions and Risk Perception for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Hubei Province of China

The spread of COVID-19 pandemic and the participation of Internet information are continually changing the public’s positive emotions and risk perception. However, relatively little is known about the underlying mechanism of how the COVID-19 dynamic situation affects the public’s risk perception and emotions. This study uses the social risk amplification framework (SRAF) as the theoretical basis to collect and analyze Hubei Province data from January 20 to April 8, 2020, including the number of newly diagnosed people per day, the proportion of positive emotional posts in Weibo, and the Baidu search index (BSI). The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMAbased time-series prediction model is used to analyze the dynamic evolution laws and fluctuation trends of Weibo positive emotions and risk perception during the development of the pandemic. The conclusion of the study is that positive emotions are negatively correlated with risk perception, the severity of the pandemic situation is negatively correlated with positive emotions, and the severity of the pandemic situation is positively correlated with risk perception. The public has a keen response to the dynamics of the pandemic situation and the government’s decision-making behavior, which is manifested by the significant changes in positive emotions and risk perception in the corresponding period. The research results can provide a reference for government departments to guide the public to establish an objective risk perception and maintain positive and stable emotions in similar catastrophes.

Mixed effects of mass media reports on the social amplification of risk: frequencies and frames of the BSE reports in newspaper media in the UK

The social amplification of risk framework explains why risks provoke public concerns, and presumes that risk signals and societal responses are determinants of the social process by which risks can be amplified or attenuated. This process considers mass media as central to disseminating information, and a conventional view suggests that media hype risks and increase public fear. This study aimed to examine how the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), the newspaper reports regarding its potential transmission to humans, and the following social events were framed in the UK, and how media functioned in the process of the social amplification of BSE risks. Newspaper articles were collected from archives of the five UK national dailies for the period 1985–2008, and were coded according to the frames, geographic focus, policy discussion and their slant, and the argument bases for policy discussions. The changes in frequency and frames over time were examined. The number of published articles increased, as BSE-related events occurred. Agriculture and trade remained dominant themes, followed by commerce and incident details. Factual reports, including neutral policy discussions, dominated the articles. When advocacy was evident, appeals for weaker policy measures appeared most frequently, favoring balance between objectives and addressing the rational acceptance of health risks. Newspaper media contributed to the social amplification of BSE risks, responding to societal events by producing numerous alarming articles that did not originate from any single health or industry viewpoint but dominated the press with factual reports. Policy advocacy was suppressed by arguments for the rational acceptance of risks. Such media behaviors demonstrated ambivalence, and may have amplified the risks less than expected, without isolating health risks, increasing public fear, or advocating stronger government policies.