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To cite this article: Rui Gaspar, Julie Barnett & Beate Seibt (2015) Crisis as seen by the individual:
the Norm Deviation Approach / La crisis vista por el individuo: el Enfoque de la Desviación de la
Norma, Psyecology: Revista Bilingüe de Psicología Ambiental / Bilingual Journal of Environmental
Psychology, 6:1, 103-135
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Psyecology: Revista Bilingüe de Psicología Ambiental / Bilingual Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2015
Vol. 6, No. 1, 103–135, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21711976.2014.1002205
nivel social, puesto que tiene en cuenta el sistema en el que tienen lugar las
transacciones entre los individuos y su entorno social. Este enfoque puede
suponer un primer paso hacia el desarrollo de modelos experimentales e
informáticos de las crisis sociales, con implicaciones prácticas en su
prevención y control a través de análisis de las redes sociales, entre otros.
También se presentan pruebas obtenidas a partir de investigaciones centradas
en aspectos específicos del modelo y sus implicaciones en la gestión y la
comunicación de las crisis.
Palabras clave: crisis social; evaluación de las amenazas; afrontamiento;
redes sociales
associated model an assessment of the processes that occur at the individual level
can be performed. In addition, given that these processes do not occur in a social
vacuum, the model may also be informative with regard to processes that occur at
the social level. Hence, this approach is focused on the appraisal and coping
processes of individuals but also of multiple individuals/agents and organizations,
taking into consideration the interaction between these levels. This represents an
ecological approach to an individual’s crisis appraisal and coping, as it takes into
consideration the individual within his social context.
Accordingly, we will present the various components of the proposed con-
ceptual approach and corresponding model, considering the individual and social
levels and the interaction between these. This includes differentiating between
when ‘I have a crisis’ and ‘We have a crisis’. From this, we will derive some
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practical implications for both research and practice relating to crisis management
and intervention.
Norm deviation
Norm deviation implies that individuals should perceive a discrepancy between a
previous state or situation — a ‘safe period’ or a different configuration associated
with a hazard — and the state or situation created by an event(s). This demands
attention processes, so that the individual perceives a change(s). This event(s) and
its constituents can alter the ‘normality’ of the distribution for a certain popula-
tion, regarding one or more variables (e.g., risk perception). Therefore, the norm
deviation implies a perceived change in the characteristics of a situation(s),
properties of an object(s) (i.e., the hazard) and associated aspects, which may
subsequently be evaluated by the individual as a threat. At the social level, this
elicits the formation of a new (or a change in a previous) hazard template, defined
by Barnett & Breakwell (2003, p. 304) as ‘frameworks for making sense of risk
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information [that] include information about the hazard itself, about the organiza-
tions, groups and individuals that are affected by it and that are involved in
managing it’. This template functions as a social representation, being socially
constructed by risk agencies, politicians, journalists and others, and influencing
the individual’s perception. The individual may also contribute to it by making
sense of and interpreting the information s/he has on the issue (Barnett &
Vasileiou, 2014; Marcu et al., 2014) and sharing this interpretation and associated
emotions with other individuals, for example on social media (e.g., Coviello et al.,
2014; Gaspar et al., 2014).
However, following from this, we may ask: is the occurrence of an event(s)
enough for the discrepancy to be perceived and a template to be formed? To
answer this it is important to identify aspects of the social context which deter-
mine whether the individuals perceive a discrepancy between the past and new
state; and that the society constructs a hazard template, as a consequence of the
event(s). Thus, although the event may be seen as a trigger, it may not be enough,
as it needs to be noticed and attended to, i.e., an attentional threshold should be
crossed upon its occurrence.
aged 25–64 years old in 20 countries reported that 60% of them needed to hear
information about a company three to five times, to believe that it was credible.
Nevertheless, further studies are needed to assess if this same effect can be found
for risk information and/or during crisis periods.
Apart from the level of discourse, other aspects may also determine the
attention given and the perception that something has changed. For example, it
may be influenced by who transmits the information and whether it originates
from consumers, rather than experts (van Kleef et al., 2007). As the information
passes through these channels, it may change qualitatively and quantitatively (see,
e.g., Kasperson, Kasperson, Pidgeon, & Slovic, 2003). Certain ‘media triggers’,
for example, may determine that an issue attracts attention and is amplified
(Department of Health, 1998; Pidgeon & Barnett, 2013, p. 7). Such triggers
include questions of blame; alleged secrets and attempted ‘cover-ups’; human
interest through identifiable heroes, villains and victims; links with existing high-
profile issues or personalities; conflict — between politicians, institutions or
nations; signal value: the story as a portent of further ills; widespread exposure
to the risk, even if at low levels; strong visual impact and links to sex and/or
crime. Apart from contextual aspects, individual characteristics also play a role,
functioning as a ‘lens’ that may focus the individual’s attention to the event(s),
affecting how they interpret them and the extent of any change that is perceived.
These may, for example, be factors that prevent people from attending to risk
information and/or specific aspects of the situation and increase selective attention
to others, such as: information avoidance (Shepherd & Kay, 2012); goals (e.g.,
behavioural) that the individual is pursuing (see, e.g., Dijksterhuis & Aarts, 2009);
group identity — e.g., national identity — which may shape the extent to which
the event and associated characteristics are seen as a threat to the group (see, e.g.,
Barnett & Breakwell, 2003); and so on.
data collected in Germany, where the outbreak first emerged and contaminated
food products, a number of Tweets were subjected to a qualitative content analysis
(for more information on the methodology, see Gaspar et al., 2014).
As shown in Table 1 below, people gave attention and acknowledged the
existence of the hazard. In addition, people noticed a difference between a
previous situation and a new template that emerged (e.g., ‘We are not allowed
to eat fruit and vegetables anymore’; ‘So now it’s sprouts?’). In fact, two
templates may have emerged over the course of the hazard sequence (Barnett &
Breakwell, 2003): initially, a first template in which cucumbers were considered
the source of the outbreak; and subsequently a template, in which the source was
identified as vegetable sprouts, which changed the characteristics of the previous
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Table 1. Sample of Tweets collected in Germany during the 2011 EHEC crisis.
Perceived discrepancy
Hazard: EHEC in 64. What do you have against us? First we get spiders in
cucumbers bananas from Brazil, now E. coli in cucumbers from Spain!
Bio conspiracy! >_<
82. Meanwhile, war of the cucumbers is heating up over here.
Spain insists their clean cukes fell on a dirty, E. coli-ridden
German floor.
97. Just read that #EHEC and E. coli are the same. Has it always
been called EHEC in Germany? I’d never heard of it before.
But I’d heard of E. coli…
150. Due to the E. coli outbreak in Europe, we are not allowed
to eat fruit and vegetables anymore. Yay, I’ll starve.
525. ‘oh shit! There’s an ecoli outbreak in germany!’ ‘gee,
taylor, have you been living under a rock?’.. O.o
Hazard: EHEC in 387. E. coli epidemic in Germany — now its sprouts according
bean sprouts to the officials (after cucumbers, tomatoes, salads, etc.)
410. So now it’s sprouts? Very funny! Germany’s most
expensive cabaret #ehec #ecoli #fail #fb
422. They found it! Germany’s deadly E. coli source is bean
sprouts http://j.mp/lAOrMM
432. #german sprouts test negative for #ecoli? how healthy is
eating healthy??
641. First the ‘experts’ said that the e coli bacteria came from
cucumbers, then they took that statement back and now they
say it again. WTF
No perceived discrepancy
31. enterohemorrhagic e coli is being hyped up by the media
again #EHEC
34. Veggie flu #EHEC, lol! Sounds nasty, but they are only
E. coli… #scaremongering
36. Just found out that the ‘new and deadly’ EHEC is a plain
E. Coli bacteria. So what is all the hype about?
563. meanwhile I’m a happy, healthy carnivore. No E Coli on
salami, cheese, bread, or beer.
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 109
template. Although some people noted a discrepancy between a prior situation and
a new state, others did not. This latter group were those that attended to the events
but did not perceive a change, i.e., failed to recognize a norm deviation and thus,
did not appraise a threat to them, with no need to implement coping. To summar-
ize, a failure to recognize a norm deviation can be due to (a) not attending to the
trigger events, or (b) attending to them but not perceiving them as a deviation
from the norm. Examples of these can be seen in Table 1 below.
Appraisal
When the discrepancy between a pre-existing situation and a new state of affairs is
detected, it demands a quick affective assessment of the event/situation and its
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constituents (i.e., the hazard and its associated aspects), which forms the basis of
the evaluation of the risk associated with it (Finucane, Alhakami, Slovic, &
Johnson, 2000; Keller et al., 2012). Moreover, the appraisal includes a cognitive
evaluation, referring to the perceived consequences for the self (health, psycho-
logical, economic, etc.) and for the achievement of personal and inter-personal
goals (Billings et al., 1980); trust in the risk managers and institutions (Keller
et al., 2012; Reynolds & Seeguer, 2005); and other aspects. The cognitive and
affective evaluative processes involved work in parallel and independently,
although with a primacy of the affective evaluation over the cognitive evaluation
(see, e.g., Finucane et al., 2000; Zajonc, 1980). More recent approaches consider
that this appraisal involves the evaluation of (Keller et al., 2012): outcome
desirability (evaluative and motivational processes), agency (responsibility and
controllability), fairness, certainty, and coping potential. These appraisals, in turn,
determine a set of specific and more complex emotions, such as anger and fear,
for example, which determine the level of risk perceived, its acceptance and other
forms of judgment and decision making (Keller et al., 2012).
This appraisal is not independent of the social context, namely the risk
environment. It can be determined, for example, by: the risk individuals perceive
for other people (e.g., family, friends; Billings et al., 1980); the hazard sequence
(sequence of official risk communications; Barnett & Breakwell, 2003); the risk
perceived by other individuals (e.g., communicated through social media; Gaspar
et al., 2014); characteristics of the risk and fright factors (see, e.g., Pidgeon &
Barnett, 2013; Slovic, 1987). In addition, the individual’s affective evaluation is
also determined by the emotional environment in which the triggers take place
(see, e.g., Reynolds, 2011). Evidence of ‘emotional contagion’ can be found at an
intra-individual level, as shown in the transference of affect between different risk
targets (Visschers, Meertens, Passchier, & de Vries, 2007); and also between
individuals and groups (Coviello et al., 2014). Thus, the individual may both be
influenced by and influence other people.
In addition to these types of appraisal, Blascovich and Mendes (2001) and
Blascovich (2008) also consider: (1) demand evaluation — assessment of the
danger, uncertainty and effort required to cope; and (2) resource evaluation —
assessment of the knowledge and skills to cope with the situation (and other
110 R. Gaspar et al.
individual or social resources; Skinner et al., 2003). From this, the individual
more or less consciously evaluates the hazard as a challenge — if s/he experiences
having sufficient resources to cope and adapt to the change — or as a threat — if
s/he experiences having insufficient resources for this. If, upon the event, the
hazard and its constituents are appraised as a threat, this triggers an ‘alarm’ and
the need for individual coping.
Coping
When a threat ‘alarm’ is triggered upon the individual evaluating that the demands
are higher than the available resources, individual and social resources need to be
sought and mobilized to compensate this. This can allow mitigating or eliminating
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threat posed by the hazard and regain control of the situation through coping,
namely the implementation of affective, cognitive and behavioural strategies,
which deviate from ‘normal’ or routine activities, as they are focused on adapting
to the threat(s). These strategies are expressed in recognizable manifestations or
‘ways of coping’ (Skinner et al., 2003) of which the adaptive success is dependent
on the individual (e.g., problem solving skills) and social resources (e.g., informa-
tion on risk reducing actions) that are sought and mobilized.
Empirical evidence for the use of different ways of coping during a crisis
comes from the Gaspar et al. (2014) analysis of Tweets published by German and
Spanish individuals during the 2011 EHEC food crisis in Europe. One way of
coping was accommodation to the threat, facilitated through the use of humour —
e.g., ‘We’re going to have cucumber salad for dinner. There’s a surprise: we have
drawn #Merkel face with them! #VivaelPepinoespañol #ecoli #Germany’. This
entails an emotion-based coping drawing on individual resources implying that
the threat was appraised and accepted. Another way of coping referred to sharing
negative emotional expressions (thus drawing on social resources), such as fear,
for example, ‘The other day I ate a cucumber, before I knew about the ecoli
bacteria, since then I am afraid! #cucumbers’. The sharing of fear as a strategy
implies that in this case the individual appraised the hazard as a threat (see
Skinner et al., 2003). This threat appraisal was also implied in another way of
coping, in this case based on behavioural expressions seeking social resources. In
accordance, individuals demanded the authorities to find the origin of the outbreak
— e.g., ‘The E. coli virus has appeared only in Germany. And it is transmitted
between people. Close the borders with Germany right NOW!’ Others expressed
avoidance of the affected product — e.g., ‘Cucumbers from Spain cause 10 deaths
from E, coli outbreak. I think I will skip salads for a while!’ Finally, another way
of coping implied cognitive expressions, for example, of conviction/determination
about the ability to cope, drawing on individual resources — e.g., ‘The bacteria is
E. coli, which can contaminate any food. Well washed and peeled they wouldn’t
have been a problem’. In this case, it seems to indicate that the individual
evaluated the hazard as a challenge, as he had the necessary resources to cope
and expressed confidence in this.
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 111
Based on the above, individuals can use (for example) cognitive and instru-
mental coping to develop a strategy, avoid the hazard and regain control, and/or
they can use emotional coping, to come to terms with their emotional reactions
(see Skinner et al., 2003). Despite this individual focus, coping is inextricably
connected with the social context, raising the importance of aspects such as trust
in others. Indeed, an individual can only avoid contaminated food when (s)he has
some idea as to what to avoid. Here, authorities and social networks may
influence strongly what individuals perceive and what information they receive
(see, e.g., Shan et al., 2013), moderated by the individuals’ trust in these sources.
In the case of authorities, for example, this is determined both by prior trust and
communication style during the crisis (see, e.g., Keller et al., 2012). The need for
trustworthy information may be one of the motives behind the heightened com-
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Figure 1. Norm Deviation Approach — NDA: societal crisis modelling at the individual
and social levels. Note: ND = Norm Deviation.
s/he should: (1) notice a deviation from what existed before; (2) appraise a threat
(to her/him and/or other relevant people); and (3) implement strategies to reduce
or eliminate it, based on seeking and mobilizing, not only individual but also
social resources. These three components are shown on the left side of Figure 1. It
is our contention that all three aspects should be present, in order for a crisis to
exist from the individual’s point of view (for a similar argument, see Keown-
McMullan, 1997). However, this should not be seen separately from the social
context in which the event(s) occurs.
Although the approach focuses on the individual level, it also focuses on the
social level, as the individual can both influence and be influenced by its social
context. Hence, this ecological approach can both be applied to determining when
a person experiences a crisis, and when a larger group, society or nation experi-
ences a crisis and how this may influence the individual’s point of view.
Accordingly, as seen on the right side of Figure 1, upon the occurrence of an
event(s) — e.g., such as the communication that an EHEC outbreak has emerged
and the societal recognition of a norm deviation, a hazard template is socially
constructed (e.g., a new threat that emerged, in the form of a new type of E. coli
— EHEC — that caused more health and economic impacts than ‘normal’ out-
breaks of E. coli (Gaspar et al., 2014). On one side, this social awareness that a
hazard has emerged may contribute to raising an individual’s attention, and at the
same time may emerge from the individual’s perceptions. This means that there is
a bidirectional influence between the social and individual level, with regard to
the norm deviation perception, as seen in Figure 1. On another side, the indivi-
dual’s appraisal and the social construction of the hazard template may also
interact. Accordingly, the individual may contribute to the society’s sense making
and representation of the hazard (Barnett & Vasileiou, 2014). Also, the indivi-
dual’s appraisal of the event is very much determined by the risk environment and
affective environment that are associated with the hazard template, and the
individual and social resources the individual feels s/he has available to cope.
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 113
Finally, the way the individual copes may influence and be influenced by the way
other individuals and the organizations cope with the hazard. For example,
individuals’ information seeking may be facilitated by the information and sup-
port available by other people and organizations (e.g., information on specific
actions to minimize negative health consequences), thus implying the use of social
resources for the individual to cope (Skinner et al., 2003). At the same time, the
individual’s coping may determine the responses at the social level. For example,
Gaspar et al. (2014) have shown that using ‘delegation’ as a way of coping, in
which individuals placed a demand on authorities to find the source of the EHEC
outbreak, implies the implementation of an approach or problem focused coping
from the authorities’ side to comply with the request. Both the individual and
social level components of crisis appraisal and coping and the interaction between
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for different subgroups (see, e.g., Rutsaert et al., 2013). It is this social grounding
aspect of individual perceptions that distinguishes a societal crisis, perceived both
at the individual and social level, from personal crisis, perceived only at the
individual level. To illustrate this, we compare the case of personal versus a
societal crisis.
As an example of a personal crisis, consider a typical midlife crisis, where
physical aspects like skin, hair colour or eyesight undergo a change. This deviation
from what existed before may be appraised as a threat. In this event, if instrumental
coping is not fully successful (e.g., if threat cannot be reduced by actions like dying
one’s hair), a sense of uncontrollability ensues, which is experienced as a personal
crisis. Emotional coping may then slowly lead to an acceptance of the facts and
adaptation to this personal crisis. In contrast, the EHEC crisis evidences a societal
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crisis. Here, the occurrence of serious health symptoms and even death from EHEC
contamination in an otherwise low-risk population is likely to constitute a norm
deviation; because this does not usually happen, there are safeguards in place to
protect the population from the hazard and people are likely to become aware of it
in a way that raises and intensifies concern (e.g., through the presence of the fright
factors). In contrast to the personal crisis, the norm that is violated is at the social
level (violating the belief that healthy people do not die from the common E. coli
infection). In the personal crisis, however, it is not normal from the perspective of
the individual to have an aging body; yet it is perfectly normal in society that people
age, so the social norm and general beliefs in this regard are not violated, nor there
is an associated hazard template.
While the norm deviation in the EHEC crisis seems clear, it is not always
equally clear that a norm has been violated. For instance, a change in long-term
patterns of infrequent events such as floods or extreme weather conditions may
not be considered as a norm violation given that the events are relatively infre-
quent (see Breakwell, 2010). Similarly, slow changes tend to go unnoticed
because each step is small. In this case, the next state is compared with the
preceding state, not the original state, i.e., the hazard template of the next state
may share characteristics with the previous state, that are not different enough for
the individual to perceive that a new state has emerged (even if this is commu-
nicated by the authorities). Moreover, it is not always clear whether something is
normal. Under these scenarios, the communicator’s goal should be to ground the
individual’s perception on the social level, i.e., raise the individual’s attention in
order to perceive the norm deviation that has been recognized at the social level
(e.g., by making salient the differences between the previous template and the new
one). Moreover, communication of the associated risks, the health consequences,
for example, can allow individuals to appraise the threat, while providing them the
necessary resources to aid them in implementing strategies to cope with it
(Skinner et al., 2003). Through successful coping, a hazard(s) may come to be
reappraised as a challenge (Blascovich, 2008), rather than a threat.
Hence, crisis management and communication practitioners should assess if
individuals consider a crisis to exist from their point of view. There may be a
societal crisis but the individual may not perceive this. Although this may not be a
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 115
problem when risk is absent, it is when threat is present and s/he does not
implement the necessary coping strategies to cope with it. In this case, commu-
nication should enable individuals to perceive that a societal crisis exists, as this is
an important first step to successfully cope. Subsequently, crisis management
should provide them with social resources (e.g., provide information on how to
avoid health consequences) and/or implement actions to ‘boost’ individual
resources (e.g., enable problem solving and strategizing skills). This should
allow individuals to effectively cope with the crisis and the threat(s) posed by
the hazard. Nonetheless, if individuals perceive a crisis that has not been validated
at the social level (as in health scares that prove to be ungrounded; Hooker, 2010),
then actions can seek to attenuate this perceived risk.
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Final remarks
Only in Hollywood movies can societal crises be solved by a lone hero. Usually, it
takes the efforts and concerted actions of many experts, a general sense of trust in
authorities and a willingness to cooperate. Thus, a collective sense that ‘We are in
control’ depends on signals of progress, competence, certainty and honesty. These
factors have been frequently mentioned in other crisis models as well, such as
SARF (e.g., Kasperson et al., 2003) and the CERC model (Crisis and Emergency
Risk Communication model; Reynolds & Seeger, 2005), for example. Again in
the EHEC example, we can see a clear connection between individual coping and
the perception that ‘we are in control’. If a person believes that by avoiding
certain vegetables, negative health symptoms can be avoided, s/he has found a
successful instrumental coping: something that can be done. Hence, the situation
should be seen as generally controllable. If a person does not believe that avoiding
protects them, the situation is likely to be seen as uncontrolled. In addition, there
is initial evidence that the wide-spread use of social media accelerates and alters
the processes leading to large-scale societal crises (see Gaspar et al., 2014;
Rutsaert et al., 2013; Shan et al., 2013).
In accordance with the above, our approach suggests at least four practical
applications. With regard to the first, monitoring social media for perceived norm
deviation, evidence of appraisal and coping expressions can allow early crisis
detection, complementing other types of research methods. This could imply the
identification of social media messages as the examples provided in Table 1,
through quantitative and/or qualitative analysis. In addition, sentiment analysis of
social media (see, e.g., Coviello et al., 2014) can allow the identification of
expressions that imply affective evaluations, varying in valence (positive, nega-
tive, neutral) and emotional content (e.g., anger, fear, optimism; Keller et al.,
2012). This can be complemented by the analysis of cognitive expressions,
including, for example, anchoring on prior knowledge (e.g., known risks) to
evaluate a new or unknown risk (see, e.g., Marcu et al., 2014). Finally, social
media analysis can allow the identification of coping expressions, both with
regard to threat and challenge appraisals (Gaspar et al., 2014). All this can then
provide important information for designing pre-emptive risk communication
116 R. Gaspar et al.
time, each agent’s actions affect its environment and other agents.
The NDA model proposed in Figure 1 is consistent with this approach and it
can be an initial step to allow for computer simulations of different crisis
scenarios, by changing components of the model at the individual and social
levels. Although further complexity should still be added by specifying variables
associated with each component (e.g., specify various types of triggers; specify
components of the appraisal process, including the existent resources appraisal
and other aspects), it has been our initial goal to represent this in a simpler way.
This allowed an overall view of the social system of which the individuals are part
of, thus representing how appraisal and coping processes at a social level can
influence processes at the individual level and vice-versa.
Concerning the third application, as referred before, collective responsibility
and coping efforts can be enhanced by helping individuals recognize a norm
deviation when this is recognized at the social level. This is especially important
in cases in which the attentional threshold has not been crossed and people may
not be conscious of a risk posed by a hazard — as it is in the case of slow
environmental changes, for example. It should, however, be taken into considera-
tion that raising the individual’s attention in order for a norm deviation to be
perceived implies quite different strategies depending on whether the crisis has
chronic characteristics (as in the case of slow and gradual environmental changes;
see Breakwell, 2010) or episodic characteristics (such as in the EHEC case). In
accordance, the processes involved in individuals’ appraisal and coping may be
markedly different in different chronic and episodic/public emergency scenarios
(Reynolds & Seeger, 2005) and future studies should take this into consideration.
In addition to helping individuals in recognizing a norm deviation, efforts can also
be made in aiding them to appraise the event(s), the hazard and associated
characteristics (template), as a challenge rather than a threat (Blascovich &
Mendes, 2001). This implies that the individual’s appraisal changes from experi-
encing having insufficient resources to cope and adapt to the hazard — threat
appraisal — to experiencing having sufficient resources for this — challenge
appraisal.
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 117
threat(s) exists. This can allow engaging them in protective actions, by providing
the most effective resources to enhance coping strategies, both at the individual
and social level.
118 R. Gaspar et al.
Desviación de la norma
La desviación de la norma implica que los individuos deberían percibir una
discrepancia entre un estado o situación previos —un ‘periodo seguro’ o una
configuración diferente asociada a un peligro— y el estado o situación creada por
una o diversas circunstancias. Esto requiere procesos de atención tales que el
individuo perciba uno o varios cambios. Esta circunstancia y sus constituyentes
pueden alterar la ‘normalidad’ de la distribución para una población determinada
en relación con una o más variables (p. ej., la percepción de riesgo). Por lo tanto,
la desviación de la norma implica un cambio percibido en las características de la
situación, en las propiedades de un objeto u objetos (e.g., el peligro) y otros
aspectos asociados que pueden ser posteriormente valorados por el individuo
como una amenaza. A nivel social, todo esto produce la formación de un nuevo
patrón de peligro (o un cambio en el anterior), definido por Barnett y Breakwell
(2003, p. 304, traducción propia) como ‘estructuras que ayudan a interpretar la
información de riesgo [que] incluyen información sobre el propio riesgo, sobre las
organizaciones, grupos e individuos que se ven afectados por el y que están
implicados en su gestión’. Este patrón actúa como representación social, puesto
que está construido socialmente por las agencias de riesgo, políticos, periodistas y
otros agentes, y ejerce su influencia sobre la percepción individual. El individuo
también puede contribuir a este patrón interpretando y confiriendo sentido a la
información que posee sobre el tema (Barnett & Vasileiou, 2014; Marcu et al.,
2014) y compartiendo su interpretación y emociones relacionadas con otros
individuos, por ejemplo en las redes sociales (e.g., Coviello et al., 2014; Gaspar
et al., 2014).
Sin embargo, según lo anterior, podríamos preguntarnos: ¿Es suficiente con
que se dé una o varias circunstancias para que se perciba una discrepancia y se
forme un nuevo patrón? Para responder a esta pregunta, es importante identificar
aquellos aspectos del contexto social que determinan si los individuos perciben
una discrepancia entre el estado anterior y el nuevo estado, y que la sociedad
construya un patrón de peligro como consecuencia de esa circunstancia o circuns-
tancias. Así, aunque esa circunstancia pueda ser percibida como un detonante,
podría no ser suficiente, puesto que el individuo tiene que percibirla y prestarle
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 121
Esto puede ocurrir, por ejemplo, cuando las circunstancias no son ‘visibles’ para
el individuo, lo que puede ser el caso, por ejemplo, del cambio climático, un
peligro amplio que incluye ‘todo un sistema de problemas desencadenados o
exacerbados por el calentamiento global’ (Breakwell, 2010, p. 858; traducción
propia). Algunos individuos no lo reconocen como un peligro ni reconocen
tampoco que el clima haya cambiado (de un modo consciente o inconsciente), y
por lo tanto no perciben que exista una crisis, a pesar de los esfuerzos de las
comunicaciones que pretenden concienciarnos de este asunto. Además, cuando el
reconocimiento de una desviación se comunica de un modo intermitente, como
suele ocurrir en el caso de algunos cambios lentos, los esfuerzos de evaluación y
afrontamiento serán desajustados y difusos.
Esta discrepancia percibida también depende en parte de aspectos situacio-
nales. El nivel de cobertura de las noticias en los medios, por ejemplo, se
considera una heurística para determinar el nivel de preocupación pública (van
Kleef et al., 2007). Un nivel alto de debate sobre un tema determinado puede ser
la prueba de que ha surgido un patrón de peligro o de que este ha cambiado,
puesto que mucha gente empieza a centrar su atención en ese tema. Aun así, más
que una simple percepción, se trata de darse cuenta de que ha ocurrido un cambio.
Esto puede ocurrir tras unas pocas notificaciones que hayan sido tenidas en
cuenta. No existen, por lo que sabemos, en la bibliografía sobre la percepción
del riesgo, estudios que identifiquen el nivel de diálogo ‘suficiente’, aunque sí
alguna sugerencia de que este efecto umbral existe. Por ejemplo, Edelman (2009)
realizó una encuesta con participantes de entre 25 y 64 años de edad en 20 países,
en la que observó que 60% de ellos tenían que oír ciertas informaciones sobre una
empresa entre tres y cinco veces para convencerse de que era creíble. No obstante,
es necesario realizar más estudios para evaluar si se produce el mismo efecto en el
caso de la información sobre el riesgo y/o durante periodos de crisis.
Aparte del nivel de debate, otros aspectos pueden determinar también la
atención prestada y la percepción de que algo ha cambiado. Por ejemplo, estas
pueden estar influenciadas por quien transmite la información y si esta surge de
consumidores o de expertos (van Kleef et al., 2007). A medida que la información
fluye por estos canales, puede sufrir cambios tanto cualitativos como cuantitativos
(véase Kasperson et al., 2003). Ciertos ‘desencadenantes mediáticos’, por
122 R. Gaspar et al.
factores que impidan que la gente preste atención a la información sobre el riesgo
y/o a algunos aspectos particulares de la situación y que aumente su atención
selectiva respecto de otros como: la evasión de información (Shepherd & Kay,
2012), las metas (e.g., de comportamiento) del individuo (véase, e.g., Dijksterhuis
& Aarts, 2009), la identidad de grupo (e.g., identidad nacional), que pueden
influir en el alcance en que el acontecimiento y sus características asociadas
sean percibidas como una amenaza al grupo (véase, e.g., Barnett & Breakwell,
2003), etc.
Evaluación
Cuando se detecta la discrepancia entre una situación preexistente y un nuevo
estado de las cosas, se requiere una evaluación afectiva de la circunstancia o
situación y sus constituyentes (es decir, del peligro y sus aspectos asociados), que
siente las bases de la evaluación del riesgo asociado a ella (Finucane et al., 2000;
Keller et al., 2012). Además, la evaluación incluye una evaluación cognitiva que
hace referencia a las consecuencias respecto a uno mismo (sanitarias,
psicológicas, económicas, etc.) y respecto a la consecución de las metas perso-
nales e interpersonales (Billings et al., 1980), entre otros aspectos. Estos procesos
de evaluación cognitiva y afectiva se desarrollan en paralelo y de un modo
independiente, aunque con primacía de la evaluación afectiva sobre la
evaluación cognitiva (véase, e.g., Finucane et al., 2000; Zajonc, 1980).
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Afrontamiento
Cuando, tras su evaluación, el individuo considera que las demandas son mayores
a los recursos disponibles y se dispara una ‘alarma’ de amenaza, es necesario
identificar y movilizar recursos individuales y sociales para compensar esta falta.
Esto puede permitir la mitigación o la eliminación de la amenaza que supone el
peligro, y retomar el control de la situación a través del afrontamiento, es decir, la
puesta en marcha de estrategias afectivas, cognitivas y conductuales que difieren
de las actividades ‘normales’ o rutinarias, puesto que están centradas en la
adaptación a la amenaza o amenazas. Estas estrategias se expresan por medio
de manifestaciones identificables o ‘tipos de afrontamiento’ (Skinner et al., 2003)
cuyo éxito de adaptación depende de los recursos individuales (e.g., capacidad de
resolución de problemas) y sociales (e.g., información sobre acciones que reducen
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relieve la importancia de aspectos tales como la confianza en los otros. Es bien cierto
que un individuo solo puede evitar un alimento contaminado si tiene algún conoci-
miento sobre lo que tiene que evitar. Aquí, las autoridades y las redes sociales pueden
influir en gran manera sobre lo que los individuos perciben y qué información reciben
(véase Shan et al., 2013), todo ello moderado por la confianza de los individuos en
esas fuentes. En el caso de las autoridades, por ejemplo, está determinada tanto por la
confianza anterior como por el estilo de la comunicación durante la crisis (véase, e.g.,
Keller et al., 2012). La necesidad de una información de confianza puede ser una de
las motivaciones que expliquen la intensa búsqueda de información y comunicación
en las redes sociales durante las crisis (véase Kuttschreuter et al., 2014), aunque es
necesario realizar más investigaciones de este tipo para validar esta opinión.
Asimismo, una mayor comunicación en momentos de crisis también ayuda a
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Circunstancia(s)
Múltiples individuos/
El individuo
organizaciones
percibe la DN perciben la DN
Sí Sí
Evaluación de Construcción de
amenaza patrón de peligro
Crisis no Crisis no
percibida por el Sí Sí reconocida a
individuo nivel social
Afrontamiento de
Afrontamiento
múltiples individuos
individual
organizaciones
Persona Contexto
crisis, este tiene que: (1) percibir una desviación de lo anterior; (2) valorar una
amenaza (a sí mismo y/o a otras personas relevantes; y (3) implementar
estrategias para reducir o eliminar la amenaza, basándose en la búsqueda y
movilización, no solo de sus recursos individuales sino también de los
sociales. Estos tres componentes se muestran en la parte izquierda de la
Figura 1. Es nuestra opinión que los tres aspectos deben estar presentes para
que exista una crisis desde el punto de vista del individuo (véase un argumento
similar en Keown-McMullan, 1997). No obstante, este escenario no debe
interpretarse como algo separado del contexto social en el que tiene lugar la
circunstancia detonante.
Si bien este enfoque se centra en el nivel individual, también tiene en cuenta
el nivel social, puesto que el individuo puede influir en su contexto social y
verse influido por él. Así pues, este enfoque ecológico puede ser de utilidad para
determinar cuándo una persona vive una crisis y cuándo un grupo mayor,
sociedad o nación, sufre una crisis y cómo esta experiencia influye en la
opinión del individuo. De ese modo, tal y como se muestra en la parte derecha
de la Figura 1, con la ocurrencia de una o varias circunstancias como, por
ejemplo, la comunicación de que ha surgido un brote de EHEC, y el reconoci-
miento de la sociedad de una desviación de la norma, se construye un patrón
social del peligro (e.g., surgió una nueva amenaza, en forma de un nuevo tipo de
E. coli, el EHEC, que causó más impacto sanitario y económico que otros brotes
‘normales’ de E. coli; Gaspar et al., 2014). Por un lado, la concienciación social
de que ha surgido un peligro puede contribuir a incrementar la atención del
individuo y, al mismo tiempo, esa concienciación puede surgir de las percep-
ciones individuales. Esto quiere decir que existe una influencia bidireccional
entre el nivel individual y el social respecto a la percepción de la desviación de
la norma, como se observa en la Figura 1. Por otro lado, la evaluación individual
y la construcción social del patrón de peligro también pueden interactuar. Así
128 R. Gaspar et al.
Observaciones finales
Solo en las películas de Hollywood una crisis de alcance social puede ser resuelta
por un héroe solitario. Por lo general, son necesarios los esfuerzos y las acciones
coordinadas de muchos expertos, un sentimiento generalizado de confianza en las
autoridades y la voluntad de cooperar. De este modo, el sentimiento generalizado
de que ‘tenemos el control’ depende de las señales de progreso, competencia,
Crisis as seen by the individual / La crisis vista por el individuo 131
Acknowledgements / Agradecimientos
This manuscript was developed as part of FoodRisC project Food Risk Communication —
Perceptions and communication of food risks/benefits across Europe: development of
effective communication strategies, funded by the European Commission under the 7th
Framework Programme — Grant Agreement n. 245124. The authors would like to
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acknowledge all project partners and the reviewers and editors of the special issue, for
the helpful comments during the preparation of this manuscript. / Este manuscrito se ha
desarrollado como parte del proyecto FoodRisC, Food Risk Communication—
Perceptions and communication of food risks/benefits across Europe: development of
effective communication strategies, con la financiación de la Comisión Europea bajo el 7º
Programa Marco de Investigación y Desarrollo— beca nº 245124. Los autores quieren
agradecer a todos los participantes en el proyecto, a sus revisores y editores del número
especial, sus útiles comentarios durante la preparación de este manuscrito.
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