Resistance to Change Is Futile? The Quest for Understanding Psychological Barriers in Health Risk Communication: Insights from a National Survey in the U.S.

Our study contributes to the field of risk and crisis communication and the Crisis6 conference theme in several important ways. First, it explores new approaches to risk communication theory, extending our understanding of “the characteristics of individuals perceiving a risk that lead some people to perceive risks differently from others” (Brady, 2012, p. 548). This study examines a model of newly identified psychological barriers (e.g., risk tolerance and risk message fatigue) in risk communication, aiming to better understand why individuals refuse or resist taking health risk preventative behaviors to protect themselves despite their risk severity awareness and the benefit of changing unhealthy behaviors. Second, our study responds to the call for more cross-national risk communication studies that systematize empirical findings and theoretical frameworks (Boholm, 1998). Our cross-national research team (U.S., Italy, and Australia) is planning and implementing a series of cross-national public risk communication studies. This submission proposes to present some of our U.S. public risk communication survey findings at Crisis6 conference.