Terrorist attacks and uncertainty reduction: media use after September 11 (original) (raw)
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Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 2010
Risk communication is an important vehicle for the scientific understanding of the perception of and response to various kinds of threats. The present study provides apparently the first empirical attempt to compare perceptions, decision-making, and anticipated action in response to threats of three kinds: natural disaster, violent crime, and terrorism. A total of 258 college undergraduates were surveyed using a vignettebased, 2 Â 2 Â 3 between-subjects design that systematically manipulated threat imminence (high vs. low), risk level (high vs. low), and nature of the threat (natural disaster vs. crime vs. terrorism). There were substantial differences in participants' perceptions and reported actions in response to natural disaster, relative to the other domains of risk, under conditions of high risk. The risk of natural disaster was more likely to lead participants to report that they would change their daily activities and to relocate. It was also more likely than terrorism to lead to action securing the home. It appears that the mechanisms for perception, decision-making, and action in response to threats cannot be generalized in a straightforward way across these domains of threat.
Theoretical Perspectives on Public Communication Preparedness for Terrorist Attacks
2004
The experience of federal health authorities in responding to the mailed anthrax attacks in the Fall of 2001 sheds light on the challenges of public information dissemination in emergencies. Lessons learned from the Fall of 2001 have guided more recent efforts related to crisis communication and preparedness goals. This article applies theories and evidence from the field of communication to
Information Behavior in Crisis Situations
Zagadnienia Informacji Naukowej , 2020
Purpose/Thesis: The article presents the scholarship on information behavior during crises, conflicts and disasters. It includes theoretical reflection on the subject of identifying heterogeneous information activities and attempts to define and characterize various crisis situations. Approach/Methods: The presented research employs qualitative approach, and methods/techniques: scoping literature review, conceptual analysis and thematic analysis. The data sample comprised selected, representative publications from 2001-2020. Results and Conclusion: Research on information behavior in various crisis situations is an important research area of information science. However, it remains understudied; the field should be expanded to account for multifaceted issues of individual and collective informational behavior in contemporary crisis situations and disasters. Originality/Value: The article is the first theoretical and conceptual analysis of information behavior in crisis situations. The article discusses various types of crises and information activities undertaken in crisis situations to develop a theoretical and practical foundation for future research on information behavior.
Proxemic effects on information seeking after the September 11 attacks
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This research investigated the relationship between proximity to a crisis event and the desire for information to reduce uncertainty. The dataset was collected between two and five days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It included 1329 responses from three different cities in the USA. Results indicate that as proximity to a crisis event increases, individuals report significantly higher levels of emotional response. Differences were also found among geographic region as to types of information desired.
Responding to risk: Awareness and action after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
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Adoption of preparedness measures among the US public remains low after the expansion of the all-hazards approach to personal preparedness campaigns following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11). This study sought to understand factors influencing preparedness behavior, particularly how demographics might influence preparedness behavior and whether preparedness actions are related to preparedness attitudes and related behaviors that may prime individuals to take these actions. Using data from the 2008 General Social Survey (n = 1338), we tested a conceptual path model of preparedness that includes demographic variables and three latent variables as mediators of the effects of demographics on preparedness: Cognitive Preparedness; Peer Group Behavior Awareness, and Perceived Effectiveness. The model explains 65% of the variance in preparedness behavior. It suggests that the effects of demographic factors on preparedness actually reflect indirect relationships mediated by predisposing attitudes, behaviors and experiences, specifically, Cognitive Preparedness, Peer Group Behavior Awareness, and Perceived Effectiveness that predispose individuals toward taking preparedness actions. Because these social and cognitive factors reflect behaviors that, unlike fixed demographics, can be shaped by public education programs, efforts to increase public preparedness should focus on improving public awareness, social networks, and more persuasive messaging as keys to increasing preparedness behavior among the US public.
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Communications with the public in times of emergency is an important function of government agencies. Successful communications policies can assist the public to rapidly adjust behaviors and perceptions of risk, while unsuccessful policies can promote community outrage, and impede the progress of threat mitigation. Drawing on existing public health risk communications literature, a model of interactive emergency communications, integrating the roles of multiple government agencies, information intermediaries, and the public is presented, and tested using two case studies (the 1999 West Nile Virus outbreak in New York, and the release of anthrax in 2001). Results of the analysis provide insights into the process of emergency communications and the behavior and decision making of governments, intermediaries and the public. These insights, in turn, suggest policies government officials can take to improve emergency communication.
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The research program in the field of risk/emergency communication during CBRN terrorism threat proposes to clarify a problem of gaps between the risk's understanding of experts and the public understands of risk. The research on risk perception focused on these gaps. The first interest for our research is practical: How we can improve the quality of social dialog in the risk communication field? How we can apply this enriched dialog in order to gain a superior level of social consensus on these controversial aspects of CBRN risks management? In this context, the research program aims to construct an interdisciplinary research methodology (social psychology, sociology, communication sciences) on the field of CBRN terrorism risks perception and communication and to design a risk/emergency communication plan useful for national authorities.