Proximity, experience, and the perception of natural hazards in multi-risk settings

Societies increasingly face complex multi-risk environments, yet risk perception research typically examines hazards in isolation. It remains unclear whether spatial proximity and past hazard experience relate to behaviour consistently across threats. We address this gap by comparing cognitive and affective responses of 2200 individuals exposed to three hazards in Southern Italy: floods, volcanic ash fallout, and natural radioactivity. Results show that exposure and experience are not uniformly associated with higher perceived risk but generate hazard-specific socio-cognitive patterns. For floods, spatial exposure and past hazard experience are associated with cognitive adaptation, lowering perceived threat. For volcanic ash, geographic distance relates to patterns indicative of a distal shadow effect, whereby populations recognize event likelihood while minimizing systemic impacts. For natural radioactivity, exposure shows a pattern consistent with a threat decoupling mechanism, with high perceived probability and low personal concern, alongside high institutional trust despite knowledge gaps. These findings challenge a universal proximity–perception link and highlight the need for hazard-specific risk communication strategies.