Zarah ESMAIL Bergische Universität Wuppertal

1. Understanding Risk Communication: The Acceptability
of Risk Communication in a Multilingual Europe
Zahra Esmail
Bergische Universität Wuppertal (Germany)
IDRC Davos 2012

2. Presentation Overview
• Zahra Esmail- brief introduction
• Project Overview: Understanding Risk
Communication
• Previous research on Risk Communication
(perception)
• Why is Risk Communication development so
Important?
• Future research needs

3. Zahra Esmail (M.A)
• Born and raised in London, England
• German and Linguistics (B.A) (Queen Mary
University of London)
• Applied Linguistics (M.A) (TU Dortmund)
• Currently: research fellow and doctoral
student at Bergische University Wuppertal

4. Understanding Risk Communication: The
Acceptability of Risk Communication in a
Multilingual Europe
• The acceptability of Risk Communication in
Europe
• To raise the awareness of socio-linguistic factors
as influences on Risk Communication process
• Suggestions for the further development of Risk
Communication in light of a growing multilingual
society
• Citizens better prepared for possible nuclear
catastrophes

5. Risk Communication
Risk Communication aims to:
- Enhance knowledge and understanding
- Build trust and credibility
- Encourage appropriate behaviors
• Communication on potential risks BEFORE
the risk event occurs
• Typically: security official-citizen

6. Risk Communication Research
• Previously saw risk communication process
as one-way communication- receivers of
information in a more passive role
• Risks are actively perceived by the individual!
• Previous research has failed to include focus
on social and cultural factors of risk
perception
• Messages are to be understood within a
sociocultural context!

7. The need for further development of
Risk Communication
How are such traditional
forms of RC understood?
e.g. “Threat”
“human behaviour depends on
perception, not on
facts” (Renn)

8. Influences on risk perception
• Culture (sub-culture) of the individual (Slovic,
Douglas and Wildavsky)
• Gender differences in the perception of risks
(Gustafson)
• Language use (expert vs. layperson communicative
means) (Covello)
• Means by which message is communicated (e.g.
radio, television broadcast) and the
trustworthyness of the source

9. The Socio-Cultural Influences on Risk
Perception (Model)
Hazard
Family/
Risk specific Peers/
RC Culture
beliefs and Community
biases
General
Individual
Characteristic
s
RC Context
Risk
Perception
Individual/Mass
Responses
RC Message

10. Socio-cultural influences on risk
perception: the linguistics of the
message
Risk Communication culture/risk communication
message:
• Expert vs Laypeople language (scientific
language)
• Non verbal signals (75% of the message)
• Translations of risk communication
• Culture = the way that we think (messages are
culture/context dependant)

11. Model: Risk Perception- an
Explanation
• This model demonstrates:
• The complexity of relation between variables
• The several variables which act as influences on
risk perception
• Risk perception leads to individual responses
and ultimate risk reducing behavior
• The message itself (i.e. the linguistic components
of the message) can affect perception

12. Why is this particularly important
today?
• Multilingual societies are increasing, as
countries continue to work closer together
• New levels of threats are emerging - the
need for resilient societies is greater than
ever
• New levels of threats require a greater
collaboration effort between countries
(transnational cooperation means a
common understanding)

13. Why is this particularly
important today?
• Lack of knowledge on nuclear threats can
lead to unprepared society:
• Mass panic, hysteria, rioting, looting
• Spreading of unreliable information
• A well informed society= resilient society!

14. Further Research I
• Linguistic influences on risk communication
process need to be highlighted
• The cultural aspect of perception must be
taken into consideration
• Other possible influences such as political
affiliations must be explored!

15. Further Research II
• Risk Communication must be further
developed as citizen oriented
• Research must include citizen opinions and
perceptions
• Subcultures in society (and their respective
language uses)
• The inclusion of social media in RC?

16. Thank you for your
Attention!
Zahra Esmail (M.A.)
Bergische Universität Wuppertal
esmail@uni-wuppertal.de