Environmental Values and the Social Amplification of Risk: An Examination of How Environmental Values and Media Use Influence Predispositions for Public Engagement in Wildlife Management Decision Making

As human interaction with wildlife increases due to population growth and development, wildlife managers and risk professionals have increasingly recognized the importance of citizen participation in risk management decision making. Employing a general population telephone survey of upstate New York residents and using a structural equation model analysis, this study examines the roles that environmental values and media use play in promoting public engagement in wildlife management and risk decision-making processes. Placing the examination within the social amplification of risk framework, this study finds that environmental values directly impact concern, health risk perceptions, and engagement in wildlife management processes. Media use also impacts citizen participation by amplifying risk perceptions and concern while directly increasing the likelihood that citizens will participate in decision-making processes. The study's implications for how the social amplification of risk framework can be used to analyze citizen participation and how risk practitioners may encourage citizen engagement are discussed.