However, the social psychological understanding of how human beings individually and collectively process fearful messages and assess risk and respond based on assessment of risk is also used to craft languaging in ways which may not be accurate, but which are designed to produce a more positive impact.

I think there are a few considerations of great interest pertaining to what we’ve learned from risk communication technologies as a form of applied psychology. One consideration is whether there is some wisdom to generating positive expectations – does the affect generated actually push the outcome in a more positive direction, and by whose definitions? Another is if what has been understood about social psychology and information processing under conditions of stress is being used to more effectively “wag the dog” and inadvertantly perpetuate ongoing destructive cycles.

Overall, I think we may have a tendency to appropriate empirical research findings and apply these findings with a fast turn-around, without really understanding the long-range impact.