ABSTRACT
Individuals develop perceptions about environmental risks based upon cognitive, social, and cultural factors. An important aspect receiving less attention is individual perceptions about, and attachments to, the place in which risks are situated. Our research raises concerns that these perceptions facilitate or inhibit comprehension of messages about threats-in-motion, leading people to personalize threats not only through nearness, but also a priori expectations of landscapes, geopolitical boundaries, and notions of local hazards climatology. We explore these issues in Central Oklahoma to show how perceptions of risk may be related to how people understand their environment and their attachment to it.
