Citation

Covello VT. Health Phys. 2011; 101(5): 511-530.

Affiliation

Center for Risk Communication, 415 East 52nd Street, Suite 3DA, New York, NY 10022.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Health Physics Society, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/HP.0b013e3182299549

PMID

21979532

Abstract

Risk communication is the two-way exchange of information about risks, including risks associated with radiation and radiological events. The risk communication literature contains a broad range of strategies for overcoming the psychological, sociological, and cultural factors that create public misperceptions and misunderstandings about risks. These strategies help radiation risk communicators overcome the challenges posed by three basic observations about people under stress: (1) people under stress typically want to know that you care before they care about what you know; (2) people under stress typically have difficulty hearing, understanding, and remembering information; (3) people under stress typically focus more on negative information than positive information.

Language: en