scholarly journals Multiple hazards and risk perceptions over time: The availability heuristic in Italy and Sweden under COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Di Baldassarre ◽  
Elena Mondino ◽  
Maria Rusca ◽  
Emanuele Del Giudice ◽  
Johanna Mård ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Availability Heuristic ◽  
Multiple Hazards ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The severe impact of global crises, such as COVID-19 and climate change, is plausibly reshaping the way in which people perceive risks. In this paper, we examine and compare how global crises and local disasters influence public perceptions of multiple hazards in Italy and Sweden. To this end, we integrate information about the occurrence of hazardous events with the results of two nationwide surveys. These included more than 4,000 participants and were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We found that, in both countries, people are more worried about risks related to experienced events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Epidemics, for example, are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. This outcome can be explained by cross-country differences in the impact of, and governmental responses to, COVID-19. Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, people in both Italy and Sweden are highly concerned about climate change and they rank it as the most likely threat.

scholarly journals Multiple hazards and risk perceptions over time: the availability heuristic in Italy and Sweden under COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3439-3447
Author(s):  
Giuliano Di Baldassarre ◽  
Elena Mondino ◽  
Maria Rusca ◽  
Emanuele Del Giudice ◽  
Johanna Mård ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Availability Heuristic ◽  
Multiple Hazards ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The severe impact of global crises, such as COVID-19 and climate change, is plausibly reshaping the way in which people perceive risks. In this paper, we examine and compare how global crises and local disasters influence public perceptions of multiple hazards in Italy and Sweden. To this end, we integrate information about the occurrence of hazardous events with the results of two nationwide surveys. These included more than 4000 participants and were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We found that, in both countries, people are more worried about risks related to experienced events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as the availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Epidemics, for example, are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. This outcome can be explained by cross-country differences in the impact of, as well as governmental responses to, COVID-19. Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, people in both Italy and Sweden are highly concerned about climate change, and they rank it as the most likely threat.

Epidemics, climate change and natural hazards: Impacts and risk perceptions under COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Di Baldassarre ◽  
Elena Mondino ◽  
Elena Raffetti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Multiple Hazards ◽  
Multiple Risks ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Way

<p>Epidemics, climate change and natural hazards are increasingly affecting humankind and are plausibly re-shaping the way in which people perceive multiple risks. Here we integrate epidemiological, policy, climate and natural hazard data with the results of two waves of nationwide surveys in Italy and Sweden. These were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We investigate the interplay between negative impacts and public perceptions of multiple hazards including epidemics, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, and climate change. Similarities and differences between Italy and Sweden allow us to investigate the role of policy, media coverage, and direct experience in explaining public perceptions of multiple hazards. The way in which people think about epidemics, for example, is expected to have been substantially influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic that has severely affected both countries, but to which the Italian and Swedish authorities responded differently. Indeed, we found that epidemics are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. In addition, when multiple hazards are considered, people are more worried about risks related to recently occurred events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Furthermore, for the majority of hazards, we found that in both countries women and younger people are generally more concerned. These new insights about the interplay between multiple hazards and public perceptions can inform the development of sustainable policies to reduce disaster risk while promoting public health.</p><p> </p>

Geographies of Climate Change Belief

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Hopkins ◽  
Ezra M. Markowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Change Perceptions ◽  
Nationally Representative

Despite scientific consensus on the anthropogenic causation of climate change, and ever-growing knowledge on the biophysical impacts of climate change, there is large variability in public perceptions of and belief in climate change. Public support for national and international climate policy has a strong positive association with certainty that climate change is occurring, human caused, serious, and solvable. Thus to achieve greater acceptance of national climate policy and international agreements, it is important to raise public belief in climate change and understandings of personal climate risk. Public understandings of climate change and associated risk perceptions have received significant academic attention. This research has been conducted across a range of spatial scales, with particular attention on large-scale, nationally representative surveys to gain insights into country-scale perceptions of climate change. Generalizability of nationally representative surveys allows some degree of national comparison; however, the ability to conduct such comparisons has been limited by the availability of comparative data sets. Consequently, empirical insights have been geographically biased toward Europe and North America, with less understanding of public perceptions of climate change in other geographical settings including the Global South. Moreover, a focus on quantitative surveying techniques can overlook the more nuanced, culturally determined factors that contribute to the construction of climate change perceptions. The physical and human geographies of climate change are diverse. This is due to the complex spatial dimensions of climate change and includes both the observed and anticipated geographical differentiation in risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities. While country location and national climate can impact upon how climate change is understood, so too will sociocultural factors such as national identity and culture(s). Studies have reported high variability in climate change perceptions, the result of a complex interplay between personal experiences of climate, social norms, and worldviews. Exploring the development of national-scale analyses and their findings over time, and the comparability of national data sets, may provide some insights into the factors that influence public perceptions of climate change and identify national-scale interventions and communications to raise risk perception and understanding of climate change.

Social Response to the FDA Authorization of Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29
Author(s):  
Jungmi Jun
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Impact

Objectives: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sales of heated tobacco products (HTPs) on April 30, 2019. In this paper, I provide a preliminary analysis of social media conversations regarding HTPs and the FDA authorization in the first 60 days. Methods: I examined 574 tweets regarding HTPs to assess tweet characteristics and semantic networks of HTPs. Results: Tweets were more likely to be neutral or anti-HTPs than pro-HTPs regardless of the author type (except for tobacco industry) or genre of the post. There was a small gap (6.4%) between the proportion of pro-HTPs and anti-HTPs among personal tweets. The proportion of pro-HTPs was larger in tweets posted by men (vs women and no sex specified) and from rural areas (vs urban). Nearly one-third of the sample mentioned cigarettes or e-cigarettes, even though the size of posts making claims on inferiority/superiority of HTPs was small. Conclusions: Social media conversations on risks of HTPs as well as surveillance on young consumer target marketing is occurring, and it will be important to assess the impact of tobacco companies' launch of HTP sales in the US to assess public perceptions on HTPs. Continuing surveillance of HTP marketing and risk perceptions will inform tobacco regulations.

scholarly journals Public Perceptions About the Impact of Climate Change on Human Health: A Study of Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. ep21012
Author(s):  
Bikram Biswas ◽  
Sajib Kumar Roy ◽  
Mohammad Nur Ullah ◽  
Shanjay Kumar Mukharjee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Impact

Cross-country differences in new service development

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aku Valtakoski ◽  
Javier Reynoso ◽  
Daniel Maranto ◽  
Bo Edvardsson ◽  
Egren Maravillo Cabrera
Keyword(s):  
National Culture ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Service Development ◽  
New Service Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test how national culture may help to explain cross-country differences in new service development (NSD) by comparing the impact of NSD success factors between Mexico and Sweden. Design/methodology/approach Eight hypotheses based on prior literature on NSD and national culture were tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling and survey data from 210 Mexican and 173 Swedish firms. Findings Launch proficiency and customer interaction had a positive impact on NSD performance with no difference between the two cultures. NSD process formalization did not have clear positive impact on NSD performance but had a statistically significantly stronger impact in the structured culture (Mexico). Team empowerment affected NSD performance positively, but the difference between cultures was non-significant. Research limitations/implications The impact of national culture depends on the type of NSD success factor. Some factors are unaffected by the cultural context, while factors congruent with the national culture enhance performance. Factors incongruent with national culture may even hurt NSD performance. Practical implications When choosing priorities in NSD improvement, managers need to consider the national culture environment. Originality/value Paper directly tests how national culture moderates NSD performance using primary data. Findings suggest that the effects of NSD success factors are contingent on congruence with national culture.

scholarly journals The Influence of Political Ideology and Socioeconomic Vulnerability on Perceived Health Risks of Heat Waves in the Context of Climate Change

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Cutler ◽  
Jennifer R. Marlon ◽  
Peter D. Howe ◽  
Anthony Leiserowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Census Tract ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Socioeconomic Vulnerability ◽  
Census Tract Level

Abstract Vulnerability and resilience to extreme weather hazards are a function of diverse physical, social, and psychological factors. Previous research has focused on individual factors that influence public perceptions of hazards, such as politics, ideology, and cultural worldviews, as well as on socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect geographically based vulnerability, environmental justice, and community resilience. Few studies have investigated individual socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in public risk perceptions of the health hazards associated with extreme heat events, which are now increasing due to climate change. This study uses multilevel statistical modeling to investigate individual- and geographic-level (e.g., census tract level and regional) social, economic, and biophysical influences on public perceptions of the adverse health impacts associated with heat waves. Political orientation and climate change beliefs are the strongest predictors of heat wave health risk perceptions; household income also has a relatively strong and consistent effect. Contextual socioeconomic vulnerability, measured with a social vulnerability index at the census tract level, also significantly affects heat wave risk perceptions. The strong influence of political orientation and climate beliefs on perceptions of adverse health impacts from heat waves suggests that ideological predispositions can increase vulnerability to climate change.

scholarly journals An Assessment of Public Perceptions of Climate Change Risk in Three Western U.S. Cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail Sullivan ◽  
Dave D. White
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Climate Change Risk ◽  
The Public

Abstract Risk perceptions influence individual and collective action related to climate change, and there is an important gap between public and expert perceptions of climate change risk, especially in the United States. Past studies have found that on average 40% of the American public believe climate change will affect them personally. We contribute a study of climate change risk perceptions in the metropolitan areas of three western U.S. cities (Denver, Colorado; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona), assessing overall patterns and drivers. A representative mail survey (N = 786) of the general public in these cities revealed that 60% of respondents identified climate change as personally risky, with the perception that it will impact either their family or their city in the next 30 years. Our results indicate that the gap in risk perceptions between the public and experts may be decreasing, although we discuss several limitations and reasons why this result requires further investigation. Using regression models, we analyze factors that are hypothesized to drive risk perceptions and discover that pro-environmental worldview and perceived personal responsibility are the most influential predictors. We discuss the implications of our results for fostering collective action to address climate change in dry, western U.S. metropolitan areas.

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