Integrating Rational and Emotional Risk Management: A Stepwise Approach and Practical Implications

Decisions in complex systems need support from formal risk management. Traditional risk management, based on a "rational" idea of risk (the actual damage linked with probabilities), often diverges from public perceptions, leading to conflict between expert-led evaluations and societal acceptance. Two research directions have emerged to bridge this gap: enhancing stakeholder participation in risk management and incorporating emotional factors into risk assessment. Building on these efforts, we propose a systematic methodology integrating stakeholders' emotional considerations into formal risk management. Our approach combines a refined risk conceptualization with a structured stakeholder engagement process. An illustrative example involving an ammonia plant site-selection risk problem is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. The proposed approach offers a potential way to resolve conflicts and enhance public trust in risk management.