Exploring the exponential sensitivity of risk perception in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Individual's risk perception regarding specific hazards is a dynamic process that evolves over time. This study analyzed the relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and the South Korean public's risk perceptions from the outset of the pandemic to the recent past. More than 70 repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted biweekly to measure individuals' risk perception. An autoregressive integrated moving average with explanatory variable time series analysis was used to characterize the relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and level of risk perceptions. It revealed that individuals' risk perception and the number of COVID-19 cases were not linearly related but were logarithmically correlated. This finding can be understood as a psychic numbing effect, suggesting that people's perception of risk is not linear but rather exponentially sensitive to changes. The findings also revealed a significant influence of individuals' trust in local governments on their risk perceptions, highlighting the substantial role played by local governments in direct risk management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emerging industrial clusters of disaster safety industry in Korea.

Disaster-related industries have become essential in strengthening both disaster resilience and national competitiveness. For more efficient disaster management, the Korean government widely integrated the disaster industry with the safety industry in 2013, calling it the "disaster safety industry." This study examines the spatial characteristics of the disaster safety industry and its association with regional industries. In emerging industries such as disaster safety industry, there is a scarcity of information regarding intra-industry transactions, and the industry's scope is often vague, thereby restricting comprehensive analysis. To address this issue, we constructed a quasi-business transaction network that aggregates firm level data to regional level. A correlation analysis using location quotients (LQ) was conducted to determine the relationship with the existing industry. The disaster safety industry network was highly correlated with regional demand. The cluster analysis results showed that four clusters were derived around large cities in the region, which was statistically significant. As a result, these cluster formations were statistically significantly correlated with science- and technology-related industries. Although the disaster safety industry was fostered by the government, we confirmed that technological innovation based on existing industries related to science-based technology can also promote the development of the disaster safety industry.

Resilience and social change: Findings from research trends using association rule mining.

This study analyzed the historical development of resilience with respect to multidisciplinary aspects using association rule mining (ARM). ARM is a rule-based machine-learning approach tailored to identify validated relations among multiple variables in a large dataset. This study collected author keywords from all resilience-related literature in the Web of Science database and examined the changes in validated resilience-related topics using ARM. We found that resilience-related research tends to diversify and expand over time. Although topics and their academic fields related to engineering and complex adaptive systems were prominent in the early 2000s, psychosocial resilience and social-ecological resilience have received significant attention in recent years. The increasing interest in resilience-related topics linked to psychological and ecological factors, as well as social system components, can be attributed to the impact of a series of complex and global events that occurred in the late 2000s. Recently, resilience has been conceived as a way of thinking, perspective, or paradigm to address emergent complexity and uncertainty with vague concepts. Resilience is increasingly being regarded as a boundary spanner that promotes communication and collaboration among stakeholders who share different interests and scientific knowledge.

Characteristics of victim blaming related to COVID-19 in South Korea.

This study aimed to determine the characteristics of the victim-blaming tendency of patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and the worry of being blamed because of COVID-19 infection. This study utilized two methodologies based on the theory of defensive attribution and information processing. First, a media analysis was conducted to determine the characteristics of the two representative COVID-19 victim blaming cases (the Itaewon Club case and the Omicron-infected pastor case). The results show that from the viewpoint of defensive attribution theory, the victim blaming of patients infected with COVID-19 is related to social identity and moral violations committed by the patients. The Korean public emphasized their social identity and believed that the patients were different from them from an ego-defensive viewpoint. Second, we conducted three longitudinal online panel surveys (N1 = 1569; N2 = 1037; N3 = 833). The samples were selected by stratified random sampling based on sex, age, and 17 metropolitan regions in Korea. The results showed that as the number of COVID-19 cases increased, the respondents' level of risk perception decreased significantly. As the information processing theory explains, people who are familiar with the frequent risks of COVID-19 are less worried about being blamed by others. Meanwhile, the regression analysis found that victim blaming of the pastor was significantly related to the respondent's religion. We can conclude that the Korean people may blame the victims of COVID-19 because they believe that the victims are very different from an ego-defensive viewpoint. Furthermore, the trust variable appeared to be important: the more the respondents trusted the government, the more they blamed the victims of COVID-19. We term this phenomenon the "trust paradox."

Mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea: The role of individualism in a collectivistic country.

The behavior of the general public is crucial for an effective COVID-19 response. The Republic of Korea has shown better performance in this regard than many other countries worldwide. Based on the theories of individualism and collectivism, this study analyzes how Korean culture and political preferences influence the mask-wearing behavior of people in Korea. We conducted two online surveys after the first wave and in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic in Korea. The results showed only small partisan differences in the level of mask-wearing behavior in Korea. Additionally, regression analysis results demonstrate that, when demographic variables are controlled, concerns of spreading infection and horizontal individualistic tendencies of younger respondents have a significant positive relation to mask-wearing behavior. Meanwhile, horizontal collectivism had a significant positive relationship with older respondents' mask-wearing behavior, as expected in the collectivistic culture of the Korean people. As a result, horizontal individualism has similar characteristics with horizontal collectivism in Koreans and both have a positive relation to their mask-wearing behavior.

Effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts for social distancing against COVID-19 in Korea.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) on social distancing policy. The Republic of Korea has been providing information to the public through WEAs using mobile phones. This study used five data sets: WEA messages, news articles including the keyword "COVID-19," the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients, public foot traffic data, and the government's social distancing level. The WEAs were classified into two topics-"warning" and "guidance"-using a random forest model. The results of the correlation analysis and further detailed analysis confirmed that the "warning" WEA topic and number of news articles significantly affected public foot traffic. However, the "guidance" topic was not significantly associated with public foot traffic. In general, the Korean government's WEAs were effective at encouraging the public to follow social distance recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the "warning" WEA topic, by providing information about the relative risk directly concerning the recipients, was significantly more effective than the "guidance" topic.

Public perception of geothermal power plants in Korea following the Pohang earthquake: A social representation theory study.

This study sought to determine how the residents of Pohang, Korea, perceive geothermal plants after the 2017 Pohang earthquake by applying social representation theory through a mixed-method approach incorporating qualitative and quantitative research. The residents' perception of the geothermal plant was largely anchored to their perception of nuclear power plants. At the time of the Gyeongju earthquake in 2016, public discourse on nuclear accidents developed and was thereafter perpetuated by the Pohang earthquake victims via cognitive anchoring. The survey results demonstrated that Pohang residents had a significantly negative opinion on geothermal plants regardless of safety, climate change mitigation, and economic factors. Upon analyzing the respondents' energy preferences through factor analysis, geothermal power plants were found to aggregate in the same category as nuclear power plants. This result statistically confirms that Pohang residents associate geothermal power plants with the risk discourse on nuclear power plants.

Korean mothers' morality in the wake of COVID-19 contact-tracing surveillance.

The Korean government collects and releases sociodemographic information about people infected with COVID-19, their travel histories, and whether or not the patients wore masks. Korean mothers then upload this information on the boards of online groups called "mom cafes." Based upon a digital ethnography of 15 "mom cafes," we examine how Korean mothers understand the travel histories of virus patients and explore the relationships between morality and materiality in the context of infectious disease surveillance. The main findings reveal that mom cafe mothers form moral personhood based on information gathered about artifacts, places, and the mobility of patients. They tie patients' travel histories inextricably to moral identities. Non-maleficence is central to Korean mothers' morality. This morality appears through the material discourses of artifacts, places, and mobility. A face mask becomes one such hallmark of morality. It is a requisite for moral persons. Those who visit crowded places, such as churches, clubs, and room salons, become immoral because they can be easily infected and spread the virus to their families and communities. To mom cafe mothers, mobile patients, such as clubbers, appear less moral than those who self-quarantine due to the high infection rate of COVID-19. We conclude that morality in this context involves the materiality of artifacts, a sense of place, and the spatial mobility of people.

The Effects of Earthquake Experience on Disaster Education for Children and Teens.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors of disaster experience that impact the effectiveness of disaster education on school students (children and teens). Following the magnitude 5.4 Pohang earthquake in 2017, Pohang City Hall conducted a school earthquake disaster education program over a period of four months (August to November) in 2018. Professors and graduate students from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology taught around 5000 middle and high school students, while also conducting surveys. The experiences of the Pohang earthquake were analyzed and divided into cognitive responses and emotional responses. Students who felt activated emotional responses, surprise and fear, but not joy, tended to have more effective educational experiences. On the other hand, unpleasant emotional reactions, such as anger and sadness, had a negative effect on educational effectiveness. The cognitive response, which is perceived intensity in this research, did not impact educational effectiveness significantly. These results imply that the emotional responses of students are more important than their cognitive responses in providing a disaster education program. This means that even though an earthquake may be small in magnitude and may not cause physical damage, we still need to provide immediate disaster education to the children and teens if they are surprised and afraid of future disasters.

Individual Disaster Assistance For Socially Vulnerable People: Lessons Learned From the Pohang Earthquake in the Republic of Korea.

The Republic of Korea has been considered to be relatively safe from earthquake hazards because of the geological location of the Korean Peninsula, which has a low level of intraplate seismic activity. However, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 5.4 struck the city of Pohang on November 15, 2017, causing 90 casualties and 52 million USD in property losses. During the recovery process after the earthquake, the Korean government provided individual disaster assistance to victims who reported their damages. However, the government disaster assistance could have been unfairly distributed among the socially vulnerable victims who essentially relied on that assistance. This study identifies whether the government disaster assistance was fairly distributed to socially vulnerable victims using a statistical model based on the data from the Pohang earthquake that occurred in 2017 in Korea. A conceptual model was constructed using a structural equation model (SEM) of three factors-social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and the amount paid out in individual disaster assistance. Furthermore, interviews with and a survey of the victims were conducted to verify the problems identified by the conceptual model. This study found that socially vulnerable victims were less likely to take advantage of the government disaster assistance program.

What Types of Happiness do Korean Adults Pursue?-Comparison of Seven Happiness Types.

Although Korea has achieved successful economic, social, cultural, and technological development over the past decades, Korean people do not seem to be particularly happy. To enhance an individual's happiness, we need to be aware of what situations and environmental conditions are conducive for happiness and explore the values of happiness we pursue. This study investigated the types of happiness expressed by Korean people using a mixed-method approach. Personal in-depth (n = 15) and focus group (n = 16) interviews were conducted with people who reported feeling a high level of happiness. Happiness categorization was conducted using Q methodology (n = 63). Subsequently, we surveyed 999 nationally representative samples of Korean adults to generalize the results of the Q analysis. The findings revealed seven types of adult happiness in Korea: (1) Self-actualization, (2) Belongingness, (3) Mission, (4) Social recognition, (5) Enjoyment, (6) Material success, and (7) Parenting. The combined results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that in Korea, people pursuing money or social success feel the unhappiest, whereas people pursuing a mission or sense of belonging feel the happiest. In conclusion, we discussed the need for happiness literacy education, to provide each adult an opportunity to understand the type of happiness they pursue.

Analysis of local acceptance of a radioactive waste disposal facility.

Like many other countries in the world, Korea has struggled to site a facility for radioactive waste for almost 30 years because of the strong opposition from local residents. Finally, in 2005, Gyeongju was established as the first Korean site for a radioactive waste facility. The objectives of this research are to verify Gyeongju citizens' average level of risk perception of a radioactive waste disposal facility as compared to other risks, and to explore the best model for predicting respondents' acceptance level using variables related to cost-benefit, risk perception, and political process. For this purpose, a survey is conducted among Gyeongju residents, the results of which are as follows. First, the local residents' risk perception of an accident in a radioactive waste disposal facility is ranked seventh among a total of 13 risks, which implies that nuclear-related risk is not perceived very highly by Gyeongju residents; however, its characteristics are still somewhat negative. Second, the comparative regression analyses show that the cost-benefit and political process models are more suitable for explaining the respondents' level of acceptance than the risk perception model. This may be the result of the current economic depression in Gyeongju, residents' familiarity with the nuclear industry, or cultural characteristics of risk tolerance.