Assistant Professor
University of Southern Mississippi
United States of America
Kathryn E. Anthony, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Southern Mississippi. She studies risk and crisis, uncertainty, and medical decision-making.
Risk, Uncertainty, and Message Convergence: Toward a Theory of Communication
Co-author and co-presenter – Steven Venette, Ph.D.
He studies risk and crisis communication, communication education, and argumentation. Risk can be considered the absence of certainty, and uncertainty is a central variable in the risk perception and communication process. However, theory that describes how people come to understand risk using a cogenerative process is incomplete. This session considers the application of prominent theories of risk perception and risk management in crisis communication settings, focusing on uncertainty, risk perception, and sensemaking of various types of risks risks. Presenters will consider existing theories, including the social amplification of risk which focuses on the ways individuals and groups “amplify” the perception risk through a social process; the precautionary principle, which states that making decisions, people should err on the side of the least risk while understanding that uncertainty is ever-present and the risk information seeking and processing model that explores information seeking and processing of risk information.