Risk Information Seeking and Processing About Particulate Air Pollution in South Korea: The Roles of Cultural Worldview

This study integrates cultural theory of risk into the risk information seeking and processing model in the context of particulate air pollution in South Korea. Specifically, it examines how cultural worldviews (hierarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, and fatalism) influence the way people interpr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Risk analysis 2019-05, Vol.39 (5), p.1071-1087
Main Authors: Kim, Hye Kyung, Kim, Yungwook
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to Information
Adult
Air Pollutants - analysis
Air pollution
Air Pollution - analysis
Cultural Characteristics
Cultural theory
Cultural worldview
Egalitarianism
Emotional responses
Environmental aspects
Environmental Exposure
Environmental risk
Fatalism
Female
Humans
Individual differences
Individualism
Information processing
information seeking and processing
Information Seeking Behavior
Male
Middle Aged
Norms
particulate air pollution
Particulate Matter - analysis
Particulates
Philosophy
Pollution
Public Opinion
Regression Analysis
Republic of Korea
Risk assessment
Risk Assessment - methods
Risk communication
Risk factors
Risk perception
Surveys and Questionnaires
Worldview
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Summary:This study integrates cultural theory of risk into the risk information seeking and processing model in the context of particulate air pollution in South Korea. Specifically, it examines how cultural worldviews (hierarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, and fatalism) influence the way people interpret risk about an environmental risk, which may in turn promote or deter their information seeking and processing about the risk. An online survey (N = 645) showed that egalitarianism was positively associated with perceptions of societal and personal risks, affective responses toward the risk, and informational subjective norms. Perceived societal risk, in particular, mediated the effect of egalitarianism on information insufficiency. Moreover, cultural worldview was a significant moderator of the relationships between information insufficiency and risk information seeking and processing. The positive relationship between information insufficiency and information seeking grew stronger with increasing egalitarianism. In contrast, the negative relationship between information insufficiency and heuristic processing was strengthened with increasing hierarchy. This study extends prior theories and models in risk communication by addressing the roles of cultural worldview, an important individual difference factor in interpreting environmental risks.
ISSN:0272-4332
1539-6924
DOI:10.1111/risa.13231