Alternative paradigms of volcanic risk perception:The case of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines

The literature on people's response to volcanic hazards tends to be split between two paradigms. The first argues that the choice of adjustment depends on how people perceive rare and extreme volcanic phenomena and the associated risk. The second considers that people's behavior in the face of natural hazards is constrained by social, economic and political forces beyond their control. The present paper addresses both paradigms and demonstrates that, in order to understand people's behavior in the face of volcanic threats, volcanic risk perception has to be balanced with non-hazard related..