Open research questions in Risk Perception and Management

What the literature leaves open

• The study identifies a gap in the literature regarding the role of risk judgment competency in the relationship between understanding of the Nature of Science and Technology and willingness to respond to risk. The study notes that prior research has emphasized the importance of scientific literacy, but has not fully explored the mediating role of risk judgment competency.

  The Mediating Role of Risk Judgment Competency in the Relationship Between Understanding of the Nature of Science and Technology, Risk Perception, and Willingness to Respond to Risk in the Context of Socioscientific Issues · 2026 · DOI

• The study faced challenges in terms of the participants' mistrust of the healthcare system and government. Financial constraints and lack of access to healthcare were also identified as challenges. The study's findings were limited by the small sample size and the partial outsider position of the first author.

  In the Shadow of Smoke and Silence: Understanding Cancer Awareness and Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding of how residents of Cancer Alley understand cancer risk and make decisions about seeking healthcare. Prior research has not fully analyzed healthcare-seeking behavior in this environmentally burdened landscape. A gap exists between service availability and community awareness.

  In the Shadow of Smoke and Silence: Understanding Cancer Awareness and Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies the challenge of translating environmental intentions into collective actions within the community. It highlights the greater challenges in the public sphere compared to the private sphere. The study also notes the difficulty in accurately assessing environmental risks due to a lack of sufficient knowledge about environmental issues.

  Exploring Community Resilience: The Joint Roles of Environmental Knowledge and Risk Perception in Pro-Environmental Behavior · 2025 · DOI

• This research fills a gap in the literature, as previous studies have focused broadly on health communication or risk perception but have rarely analyzed food recall headlines as a distinct category.

  Communication Effectiveness Online Food Recall: A Study of 27 Food Recalls in Poland · 2026 · DOI

• In particular, there is limited knowledge about how linguistic simplicity and emotional framing interact to influence consumer reactions in urgent situations requiring immediate behavioral responses.

  Communication Effectiveness Online Food Recall: A Study of 27 Food Recalls in Poland · 2026 · DOI

• Yet its universalizing language remains insufficient for explaining how risks are differentially produced, displaced, governed, and lived across colonial and postcolonial geographies.

  Rethinking Risk Society from the Global South: On the Unequal Distribution of Risk · 2026 · DOI

• By adopting perceived risk and signaling theory as the theoretical lens, the current research examines one such unique and underexplored intervention—the Proposition 65 warning.

  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED : The Effect of California's Proposition 65 Warning on Consumer Perceptions and Evaluations · 2025 · DOI

• Further research is needed to examine the dual moderating effects of environmental knowledge and risk perception on the intention-behavior gap in different contexts, - Studies can investigate the impact of environmental knowledge and risk perception on pro-environmental behaviors in various spheres

  Exploring Community Resilience: The Joint Roles of Environmental Knowledge and Risk Perception in Pro-Environmental Behavior · 2025 · DOI

• However, the causes of variations in correlations across different technologies and countries remain unclear.

  Influence of Anshin-kan and Familiarity on Acceptance of Technologies – A Comparative Study of Brazil, China, and Japan · 2025 · DOI

• However, the correlations among anshin-kan , familiarity, and technology acceptance remain unclear.

  Influence of Anshin-kan and Familiarity on Acceptance of Technologies – A Comparative Study of Brazil, China, and Japan · 2025 · DOI

• Existing studies on risk perception have identified key factors influencing policymaking and its support; however, their effects in practical situations remain unclear.

  Opinion changes among participants in citizen participation workshops: a case study on the final disposal of removed soil outside Fukushima Prefecture · 2025 · DOI

• Still, this lack of consensus highlights the need to better conceptualise "risk perception".

  Factors influencing risk perception during Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC): a scoping review · 2024 · DOI

• While much research has historically focused on outdoor air pollution, indoor air pollution has been relatively under-explored despite its strong connection with health outcomes, particularly respiratory health.

  ‘Incense is the one that keeps the air fresh’: indoor air quality perceptions and attitudes towards health risk · 2024 · DOI

• However, the evaluation of qualitative criteria in siting analysis remains under researched, such as the insufficient focus on urban and regional spatial development, social public opinion, and psychological factors.

  Towards a better psychological satisfaction: developing a mixed multi-criteria evaluation system to urban ‘Not in my back yard’ facilities siting · 2024 · DOI

• Further, long-term time-series data for conducting such an analysis are lacking; so, for this study, a long-term database from 1960 to 2010 was constructed (before the earthquake and nuclear power plant accidents happened in 2011).

  Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant impact on regional economies from 1960 to 2010 · 2024 · DOI

• professionals and the challenges to the early risk analysis paradigm signify a major paradigm shift, or simply its modification, remains to be determined. This, despite ample evidence of bias among experts and lack of agreement among them concerning technical criteria for risk assessment.

  Social dimensions of risk: The need for a sociological paradigm and policy research · 1987 · DOI

• Further research into the trust and equity aspects of risk can benefit from using the approach for other examples of societal technology choice and risk management.

  How Fair Is Safe Enough? The Cultural Approach to Societal Technology Choice1 · 1987 · DOI

• Disinformation undermines institutional trust and challenges the effectiveness of evidence-based regulation. The lack of scientific evidence to substantiate claims is a major challenge. The coordination of the regulated sector and its representative associations to influence the regulatory process is another challenge.

  Valuation in the Context of Post-Truth · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the current regulatory framework regarding the quality of social participation and the impact of disinformation on the effectiveness of evidence-based regulation. The study highlights the need for strengthening the quality of social participation and enhancing science communication.

  Valuation in the Context of Post-Truth · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies challenges in communicating radiation risk to the public, including the need to address public concerns and misconceptions. It highlights the challenge of bridging the gap between expert knowledge and public perception. The paper also identifies the challenge of developing effective communication strategies that take into account the factors that influence public perception of radiation risk.

  Social Perception of Natural Background Radiation and Its Implications for Public Health Communication · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of public perception of natural background radiation and its implications for public health communication. It highlights the need for effective radiation risk communication that goes beyond just information dissemination. The paper also identifies a gap in the literature on the factors that influence public perception of radiation risk.

  Social Perception of Natural Background Radiation and Its Implications for Public Health Communication · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of disinformation and its effects. The authors highlight the need for ethical communication strategies.

  Disinformation and Risk Society: What Is at Stake with the Proliferation of Information Disorders · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of balancing public security and individual freedoms. The research highlights the need for a normative framework that defines the conditions under which risk management can be compatible with individual freedoms from a liberal perspective. The study notes the difficulty of determining where the balance should be struck between state intervention and individual autonomy.

  The Liberal Dilemma: Balancing Security and Freedom in Public Risk Management · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could complement the study's findings with primary data such as interviews with policymakers or surveys of affected populations. The study does not include discourse analysis of political speeches or media coverage, which remains a separate methodological approach for future inquiry.

  The Liberal Dilemma: Balancing Security and Freedom in Public Risk Management · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Risk Perception and Management

• Perception of Risk · Science · 1987 · 7,028 citations
• The Social Amplification of Risk: A Conceptual Framework · Risk Analysis · 1988 · 2,630 citations
• Psychometric properties of the credibility/expectancy questionnaire · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · 2000 · 1,941 citations
• How safe is safe enough? A psychometric study of attitudes towards technological risks and benefits · Policy Sciences · 1978 · 1,910 citations
• The Risk Perception Paradox—Implications for Governance and Communication of Natural Hazards · Risk Analysis · 2012 · 1,704 citations
• Understanding and managing the threat of common method bias: Detection, prevention and control · Tourism Management · 2021 · 1,411 citations
• Perceived Risk, Trust, and Democracy · Risk Analysis · 1993 · 1,263 citations
• Affect, generalization, and the perception of risk. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1983 · 1,230 citations
• Gender, Race, and Perception of Environmental Health Risks · Risk Analysis · 1994 · 1,097 citations
• Factors in Risk Perception · Risk Analysis · 2000 · 1,056 citations

Most recent work

• Risk Science in Practice: A Framework for Gauging Risk Principles in Domain‐Specific Discourse · Risk Analysis · 2026
• When Nuclear Power Feels Close to Home: Salience, Risk Information, and Public Acceptance · Policy Studies Journal · 2026
• Industrial application of a credibility framework: two case studies · Royal Society Open Science · 2026
• Digital grievances: A geospatial analysis of public discourse on doctor-patient conflict in China · Applied Geography · 2026
• Looking for a Straw in a Haystack by Bridging the Cracks Between Individual Judgments: Narrowing the Knowledge Gap To Anticipate Surprises by Transforming Risk Assessors’ Small Worlds Into Large Worlds · Risk Analysis · 2026
• Cascading global catastrophic risks toward 2075: How optimism and expertise shape perceptions of systemic threats · Futures · 2026
• Misrecognition or heightened awareness? The role of local context in perceptions of environmental inequality across social groups · Social Problems · 2026
• Multidimensional analysis of food security and safety in China: insights from overseas think tanks and media · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2026
• Food safety beliefs, risk perception and consumers’ sustainable purchasing behavior: a case study of specialty freshwater fish · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2026
• Boulangerie : état des lieux sur la prévention du risque chimique · Archives des maladies professionnelles et de médecine du travail/Archives des maladies professionnelles et de l'environnement · 2026

Related topics in Social Sciences