The Social Amplification of Risk Framework Revisited: Report From an Exst Workshop on Opportunities for Conceptual Advancement

Authors

• Seth P. Tuler, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Angela Bearth, ETH Zurich
• Lisbet Fjæran, University of Stavanger
• Rui Gaspar, Lusófona University
• Kenneth Pettersen Gould, University of Stavanger
• Bonnie Ram, University of Delaware
• Pia-Johanna Schweizer, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
• Thomas Webler, Social and Environmental Research Institute
• Rob Goble, Clark UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) is intended to facilitate the integration of studies about risk across natural, biological, physical, and social sciences. Researchers employing SARF have advanced understandings of the complex dynamic responses of social systems to hazards, the ways that risks are experienced and perceived, and the ways that consequences can ripple across social and governance systems, geographies, and economic sectors. In seeking to build on a Special Issue of Risk Analysis on SARF organized and edited by Kasperson, et al. (2022), an international interdisciplinary group of scholars convened an invited expert Workshop on SARF at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich during April 2024. Here we report on the outcomes emerging from the workshop. First, we sought to clarify definitions of concepts, such as risk signals, risk amplification, and risk attenuation. Second, we sought to overcome the tendency in studies using SARF to focus on information processing by the public and neglect the ways that other social actors play roles in risk amplification and attenuation. Third, we propose a new metaphor, risk resonance, to focus attention on why certain risk signals gain traction and others do not, which has also been a topic that has to date received minimal attention. Fourth, our discussions led us to highlight the importance of better integration of context and history into analyses employing SARF. We conclude the paper with thoughts about how the framework can achieve its yet unmet potential to inform risk research, policy, and management. © 2026 Society for Risk Analysis.

Publication Title

Risk Analysis

Publication Date

2026

Volume

46

Issue

9

ISSN

0272-4332

DOI

10.1111/risa.70352

Keywords

hazard management, resonance, risk, risk amplification, risk attenuation, risk dynamics, risk management, risk perception

Repository Citation

Tuler, Seth P.; Bearth, Angela; Fjæran, Lisbet; Gaspar, Rui; Gould, Kenneth Pettersen; Ram, Bonnie; Schweizer, Pia-Johanna; Webler, Thomas; and Goble, Rob, "The Social Amplification of Risk Framework Revisited: Report From an Exst Workshop on Opportunities for Conceptual Advancement" (2026). Sustainability and Social Justice. 592.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_idce/592