Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Revealing the attitude strength attributes underlying trust in risk managers

本研究将态度强度的考量纳入信任的概念化与测量，以增进对风险沟通中信任的理论认识。管理环境风险的主管部门一方面希望赢得公众的信任，另一方面也希望这种信任足够牢固。也就是说，他们希望人们给予他们的信任能够持续一段时间，忍受坏消息的循环，并对人们的思想和行为产生积极的影响。然而，对风险沟通的研究很少关注这些与力量相关的信任品质是如何获得或失去的。对于如何在统计模型中测量和测试这些品质，人们知之甚少。这一领域缺乏关注可能是由于该领域如何将信任概念化，通常作为一种本质上只需要最小认知努力的结构，允许人们在不需要进行复杂计算的情况下做出有关环境风险的决策。目前的项目综合了多个学科的理论和发现，采取了另一种方法。关于态度强度的文献表明，通过丰富的知识和阐述而形成的态度会表现出强烈态度的结果：它们会持续一段时间，抵制反说服性信息，并强烈影响进一步的信息处理和行为。认为信任本质上是基于毫不费力的处理，这意味着信任不会表现出这些与力量相关的后果。本研究并没有否定基于认知努力过程的信任的可能性，而是探讨了沟通过程如何增加对风险管理人员的了解和阐述，从而产生更强的信任形式。本研究提出了一个理论模型来研究风险沟通中信任的态度强度属性。根据该模型，两个态度强度属性（知识、阐述）调解了三个沟通过程前因（直接互动、媒体使用和与他人讨论）和四个态度强度结果（坚持、抵抗、对信息加工的影响、对行为的影响）之间的关系。为了从经验上测试这种替代的信任模型，该项目开发了一项两波在线调查，使用来自当地社区的样本，其中存在显著的风险管理问题，并且可以合理地观察到三个沟通过程。受环境危害项目影响区域内的居民将通过邮件被邀请参加在线调查。受访者将报告他们与当地环境机构的沟通经验，以及对项目决策的了解程度和详细说明。他们还将对两轮调查中对该机构的信任程度进行评级，以衡量信任的持久性。

The proposed research will improve theoretical understanding of trust in risk communication by integrating considerations of attitude strength into the conceptualization and measurement of trust. While authorities managing environmental risk seek to earn trust from the public, they also want such trust to be strong. That is, they want trust bestowed upon them to last over time, endure bad news cycles, and positively influence people's thinking and behavior. Research in risk communication, however, rarely has focused on how these strength-related qualities of trust are gained or lost. Little is known about how these qualities can be measured and tested in statistical models. The lack of attention in this area is likely due to how the field has conceptualized trust, usually as a construct that inherently takes minimal cognitive effort, allowing people to make decisions about environmental risk without having to engage in complex calculations. The current project synthesizes theories and findings from multiple disciplines to take an alternative approach. The literature of attitude strength suggests that attitudes crystallized through rich knowledge and elaboration will exhibit consequences indicative of strong attitudes: they will persist over time, resist counter-persuasive messages, and strongly affect further information processing and behavior. To argue that trust is inherently based on effortless processing implies that trust cannot exhibit these strength-related consequences. Instead of dismissing the possibility of trust based on cognitively effortful processes, this research examines how communication processes can increase knowledge and elaboration about risk managers which, in turn, can yield stronger forms of trust. This new research propose a theoretical model to study attitude strength attributes of trust in risk communication. According to this model, two attitude-strength attributes (knowledge, elaboration) mediate the relationship between three communication process antecedents (direct interaction, media usage, and discussion with others) and four attitude strength consequences (persistence, resistance, impact on information processing, impact on behavior). To empirically test this alternative model of trust, the projects develops a two-wave online survey using a sample from a local community where there is a salient risk management issue and the three communicative processes can be reasonably observed. Residents within the area to be affected by an environmentally hazardous project will be invited to the online survey via post mail. Respondents will report their communication experiences with, and amount of knowledge and elaboration about a local environmental agency making decisions about the project. They will also rate their level of trust toward the agency in both waves of the survey, allowing measurement of the persistence of trust.