Abstract
How do vulnerability and social capital shape people's risk perception and risk coping behavior in a high-risk society such as Taiwan? We apply the Risk Society Wave of the Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS) 2013 to investigate these questions. Statistical findings show that different types of risk shape people's social vulnerability, risk perception, and coping behavior: (1) Taiwanese people do worry about the world risks such as nuclear power and climate change, and their risk perception is related to their climate disaster hazards and vulnerability. Higher risk perception and social capital improve people's coping behavior related to world risks. (2) In contrast, the more highly educated, middle aged, and females worry about human-made food insecurity risk more than others; higher risk perception and social capital improve people's coping behavior related to human-made risks. (3) However, low socio-economic status people worry about natural disaster risks such as typhoons and earthquakes more than others; higher risk perception and social capital improve these relatively vulnerable people's coping behavior in relation to natural disaster risks. The results show that different types of risks-world, human-made, and natural disaster risks-shape people's social vulnerability, perceptions of hazards and risks, and coping behavior, and suggest different risk communication and risk governance strategies for the three types of risks in Taiwan.