How beliefs about tampering with nature influence support for enhanced geothermal systems: A cross-national study.

Many believe that enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) can greatly increase the extraction of geothermal energy worldwide, helping to decarbonize heat and electricity production. Effective communication is key to realizing the potential of EGS, yet we currently know little about how the public perceives this emerging technology. This exploratory study contributes to the literature with a cross-national survey in the United States (n = 1003) and Switzerland (n = 1028), two countries with active EGS projects. Specifically, we explore how EGS support relates to beliefs about the deep underground and perceptions of EGS as tampering with nature. The results show that respondents tend to perceive the deep underground as part of nature, dangerous, and unpredictable. The majority are positive about using the deep underground as a resource, although there were variations regarding specific underground activities. In both countries, EGS support is greater for respondents who perceive the underground as something for human use, perceive more benefits than risks from EGS, and support their country's transition to renewable energy. In Switzerland, EGS support is positively related to trust in industry developers and negatively related to perceptions that EGS is tampering with nature. The results offer novel theoretical insights into perceptions of the deep underground in relation to energy development. From a practical standpoint, the results suggest that those seeking to develop EGS may want to consider how to familiarize individuals with current subsurface energy activities, including efforts to protect the underground from unwanted consequences of "tampering," alongside engaging in discussions about the risks and benefits of EGS.

The Evolving Field of Risk Communication.

The 40th Anniversary of the Society for Risk Analysis presents an apt time to step back and review the field of risk communication. In this review, we first evaluate recent debates over the field's current state and future directions. Our takeaway is that efforts to settle on a single, generic version of what constitutes risk communication will be less productive than an open-minded exploration of the multiple forms that comprise today's vibrant interdisciplinary field. We then review a selection of prominent cognitive, cultural, and social risk communication scholarship appearing in the published literature since 2010. Studies on trust in risk communication messengers continued to figure prominently, while new research directions emerged on the opportunities and critical challenges of enhancing transparency and using social media. Research on message attributes explored how conceptual insights particularly relating to framing, affective and emotional responses, and uncertainty might be operationalized to improve message effectiveness. Studies consistently demonstrated the importance of evaluation and how varying single attributes alone is unlikely to achieve desired results. Research on risk communication audiences advanced on risk perception and multiway engagement with notable interest in personal factors such as gender, race, age, and political orientation. We conclude by arguing that the field's interdisciplinary tradition should be further nurtured to drive the next evolutionary phase of risk communication research.

Pharmaceutical Benefit-Risk Perception and Older Age: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Older age plays an important role in pharmaceutical benefit-risk perception. This creates challenges and opportunities, especially for regulatory authorities and advocacy groups seeking to communicate with patients of all ages. This study explored the pharmaceutical benefit-risk perceptions of older versus younger adults to identify age-related effects for further study. METHODS: 80 face-to-face surveys were conducted with samples of older and younger respondents from Boulder, Colorado (USA), and Dublin (Ireland). RESULTS: Older adults were more likely than their younger counterparts to view greater risk today than 20 years ago for 14 out of 16 items ranging from diabetes and Alzheimer disease, to patients taking prescription medicines. Both older and younger respondents perceived most medical treatments as high in benefit and low in risk. Older adults construed "risk" variably as (1) side effects, (2) dangers of inappropriate use, and (3) wider issues. Crucially, older adults' quantitative benefit-risk judgments were strongly influenced by personal experiences and the positive/negative feelings they most associated with different medicines, medical procedures and tests. While positive associations influenced high benefit perceptions, negative associations influenced high risk perceptions. CONCLUSION: Age-related effects on risk perception should be further explored to help improve the effectiveness of benefit-risk communication for adults of all ages.

Pharmaceutical Benefit-Risk Perception and Age Differences in the USA and Germany.

INTRODUCTION: Understanding how patients of all ages perceive the benefits and risks of medical treatments is vitally important. Yet, the role of older age on pharmaceutical benefit-risk perceptions has hardly been empirically investigated as a central focus of study. OBJECTIVE: This study tested the generalizability of recent pilot findings to explore benefit-risk perception age differences between adults aged 65 years old and over (older group) and those aged 18-64 years old (younger group). METHODS: An online survey representative for age, sex, and education was conducted in Ohio, USA (N = 1520) and Germany (N = 1536). A combination of benefit, risk, and affect questions measured respondents' perceptions of 18 medicines, tests, vaccines, and procedures. Further questions investigated general perceptions of side effects and effectiveness, as well as respondents' reliance on different sources of medicines information. RESULTS: Clear age differences were found that strongly support recent pilot findings. Older adults perceived prescription medicines significantly more positively than their younger counterparts. They had significantly higher benefit and lower risk perceptions for most, but not all, medical treatments investigated. Older adults' benefit-risk perceptions were more strongly correlated with positive/negative affect, that is, their positive/negative experiences and feelings of "goodness" or "badness" they associated with each medical treatment investigated. They also perceived doctors and pharmacists as more competent and trustworthy. Contrary to popular belief, both age groups ranked their reliance on 15 different medical (e.g. doctors), societal (e.g. social media), industry (e.g. pharmaceutical company websites), and governmental (e.g. regulatory agencies) sources of medicines information remarkably similarly. CONCLUSION: Age has an important role in patients' pharmaceutical benefit-risk perceptions. Findings show that, when designing messages, benefit-risk communicators should incorporate age differences. This includes older patients' positive perceptions of pharmaceuticals, greater reliance on affect, and information seeking versus scanning behaviour. Field experiments are now needed to test the effectiveness of such changes for improving benefit-risk communication practice.

Pharmaceutical Benefit-Risk Perception and Older Age: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Older age plays an important role in pharmaceutical benefit-risk perception. This creates challenges and opportunities, especially for regulatory authorities and advocacy groups seeking to communicate with patients of all ages. This study explored the pharmaceutical benefit-risk perceptions of older versus younger adults to identify age-related effects for further study. METHODS: 80 face-to-face surveys were conducted with samples of older and younger respondents from Boulder, Colorado (USA), and Dublin (Ireland). RESULTS: Older adults were more likely than their younger counterparts to view greater risk today than 20 years ago for 14 out of 16 items ranging from diabetes and Alzheimer disease, to patients taking prescription medicines. Both older and younger respondents perceived most medical treatments as high in benefit and low in risk. Older adults construed "risk" variably as (1) side effects, (2) dangers of inappropriate use, and (3) wider issues. Crucially, older adults' quantitative benefit-risk judgments were strongly influenced by personal experiences and the positive/negative feelings they most associated with different medicines, medical procedures and tests. While positive associations influenced high benefit perceptions, negative associations influenced high risk perceptions. CONCLUSION: Age-related effects on risk perception should be further explored to help improve the effectiveness of benefit-risk communication for adults of all ages.