About

Hwanseok Song is an Assistant Professor in the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University, specializing in communication with a focus on social cognitive processes related to risk, science, and environmental communication. His research examines how people's judgments about others, such as public authorities and fellow citizens, influence their communicative practices, attitudes, and behaviors. Using experimental and survey methods, he investigates judgments such as trust, fairness, justice, and norm violation, and how these shape responses to risk and authority figures. He teaches courses on risk communication, persuasion, and judgment and decision making. His scholarly work explores the roles of values, social identity, moral framing, and perceived characteristics of behavioral guidance in shaping trust and norm enforcement, particularly in contexts involving environmental issues and public health. His research contributes to understanding the psychological and social factors that influence public perceptions and behaviors in science and environmental communication.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Psychology
• Engineering
• Social psychology
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Management science
• Demography
• Gender studies
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Business
• Cognitive psychology
• Socioeconomics
• Data science

Selected publications

• The Role of Vaccine Education Advertising in Countering Misinformation: Insights from the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction

  Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising · 2026-01-23

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• How Values Guide Trust: The Multiple Roles of Science-Related Value Predispositions in Shaping Trustworthiness and Trust in Scientific Authorities

  Science Communication · 2025-10-06

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Guided by literature suggesting that value similarity shapes trust in scientific authorities managing technological risks, we examined how science-related values affect trust formation. Our experiment found that individual value orientations moderated the effects of scientific authorities’ value displays. They also affected how people weigh ability, benevolence, and integrity to establish trust. Individuals with high deference to scientific authority judged power-oriented authorities more favorably and drew less on benevolence and integrity dimensions than did those low in deference. Those with higher technocratic beliefs rated universalism-oriented authorities as higher in benevolence and weighted this dimension more heavily in trust judgments.

  PublisherDOI

• Does Terminology Matter? Effects of the Citizen Science Label on Participation in a Wildlife Conservation Online Platform

  Citizen Science Theory and Practice · 2025-01-29 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Despite concerns that sociocultural connotations of the term citizen science may discourage engagement with such projects among certain groups, little empirical evidence is available about the behavioral effects of this terminology. One specific area of concern is the persistent gender gap in citizen science participation. A two-week field experiment (N = 699) with users of an online platform framed as either a citizen science or an environmental stewardship project examined framing and gender effects on engagement, sense of community (SoC), and indicators of pro-environmental interest. Results revealed no direct effects of the frame. Rather, framing interacted with participants’ perceptions of the extent to which the project was about citizen science or environmental stewardship. Perceiving the project as environmental stewardship predicted higher engagement and environmental interest among women than among men, and greater SoC only among men assigned to the environmental stewardship frame. A key implication is that the congruence between a project’s label and people’s experiences in the project may be more important than how the project is labeled.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Question Order Effects in Multidimensional Risk Perception Measurement

  Risk Analysis · 2025-12-16

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  This study examines how question order influences responses in multidimensional risk perception measurement. Through a randomized between-subjects experiment (N = 1352) manipulating the sequence of risk perception dimensions, we identified systematic question order effects. When a general risk question followed specific dimensional questions, responses showed significant assimilation effects (i.e., general risk aligned more closely with preceding specific dimension ratings). Consequence dimension responses (severity, affect) showed assimilation effects when preceded by probability dimensions (exposure, susceptibility), while probability dimensions remained stable regardless of ordering. Within subdimensions, severity ratings were influenced by preceding affect questions, and susceptibility ratings were influenced by preceding exposure questions, both displaying assimilation patterns. Testing how individual differences in cognitive sophistication moderate susceptibility to order effects, contrary to our predictions, we found that individuals higher in analytical thinking style demonstrated stronger order effects for general risk questions than those lower in analytical thinking. These findings reveal an asymmetrical pattern where judgments requiring more analytic specificity tend to anchor evaluations that are relatively global, affective, or self-focused.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Correcting COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation: How Vaccine Information, Norm Beliefs, and Relational Closeness Influence Correction Intention

  Health Communication · 2025-11-14

  articleSenior author

  Drawing on the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IMBP) and the social norms approach, this study examines how exposure to COVID-19 vaccine information influences intentions to correct vaccine misinformation, with attention to the moderating role of relational closeness. An experiment with 1,064 U.S. adults conducted in early 2021 shows that exposure to vaccine information increases correction intentions through perceived social norms. Relational closeness moderated this process in a counterintuitive way: although overall correction intentions were highest for friends, the effect of information exposure on norms was steeper for strangers, suggesting ceiling effects among close ties. By situating misinformation correction as a socially embedded and normatively governed decision, this study extends the IMBP to the context of vaccine misinformation and highlights how background factors, social norms, and relational dynamics jointly shape corrective behavior.

  PublisherDOI

• Unpacking Ingroup Source Effects in Politically Polarized Issues: The Interplay of Social Identity, Moral Framing, and Credibility

  Communication Studies · 2025-06-09 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Media Influence on Bystander Intervention for Health Protective Norms: The Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction Perspective

  Journal of Health Communication · 2024-05-03 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  =1,426) indicate a positive correlation between seeking health information from the media and the intention to confront norm violators regarding mask-wearing. This correlation is mediated through three intermediary pathways: attitudes, normative beliefs, and perceived behavioral control. These discoveries address a previously unexplored area concerning pro-social health behaviors, bystander intervention, and contribute to the field of health communication by linking them to research on media influences. Combining media and peer interventions could lead to more effective health outcomes. The discussion covers both theoretical and practical implications.

  PublisherDOI

• When Trust Matters: Perceived Characteristics of Behavioral Guidance as Moderators of Trust in Compliance Decisions

  Science Communication · 2024-12-19 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  We tested whether perceived characteristics of behavioral measures suggested by a public health authority such as uncertainty, complexity, subjective knowledge, and perceived behavioral control would moderate the effect of trust in that authority on compliance intentions. We also tested how other known determinants of behavior such as attitude, subjective norms, perceived risks and benefits, and freedom threat would moderate trust effects. Findings suggest that trust was more strongly associated with behavioral compliance decisions when individuals felt more confident in their understanding of the suggested behavior. In addition, behavioral characteristics involving affective evaluations appeared to enhance the effects of trust.

  PublisherDOI

• Standing Up to the Maskless: Antecedents of Norm Enforcement Behavior and Meta-Norm Misperception During COVID-19 at a College Campus

  Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly · 2024-07-30 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Extending theorization on bystander intervention, this study examined antecedents of upstanding, a communication practice in which bystanders communicate disapproval to norm violators, using the context of mask wearing during COVID-19. Survey findings from undergraduate students revealed that perceived legitimacy of intervention played a key role in decisions to stand up to mask norm violators. In addition, anticipation of hostile responses from the confronted party and bystander indifference discouraged upstanding behavior or intentions. Participants also expected to receive less support from bystanders in a hypothetical episode as an upstander than what they intended to offer an upstander as a bystander.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring the Cognitive, Affective, and Conative Factors of Bystander Intervention to Improve Protective Measures During Health Emergencies

  Health Communication · 2024-12-20 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  This study examines the factors shaping individuals' reactions to health-protective norm violations through the lens of cognitive accessibility, the risk-as-feelings hypothesis, and the tripartite decision-making framework. By surveying 1,426 U.S. college students, we found that frequent exposure to health information in the media is associated with an increased tendency to adopt health-protective measures and support bystander intervention (upstanding) intentions. From a theoretical perspective, the results underscore the significant impact of the conative (behavioral) dimension on bystander intervention intention, alongside contributions from the affective and cognitive dimensions. Health communication practitioners should plan frequency-enhancing media strategies to effectively reach their target audience. Well-targeted and repeated exposure to vaccine information may help address health norm violations by correcting deviant behaviors.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jonathon P. Schuldt

  Cornell University

  6 shared

• Katherine A. McComas

  5 shared

• Sarah Naiman

  5 shared

• Rainer Romero‐Canyas

  Environmental Defense Fund

  4 shared

• Adam R. Pearson

  Pomona College

  4 shared

• Hang Lu

  4 shared

• Neil A. Lewis

  Cornell University

  3 shared

• Mario Bravo

  Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

  3 shared

Education

• PhD, Communication

  Cornell University

  2018