This study is a cross-national study and aimed to investigate how perception of PM2.5 air pollution influences public’s avoidant and protective behaviors, whether there are correlations between the public’s PM2.5 negative emotions, risk perception and coping behaviors, and whether there are significant differences between China and Korea. To better understand the mechanisms of coping behaviors related to the risk of PM2.5 exposure, the study divided coping behaviors into avoidant behaviors, which reduce exposure to PM2.5, and protective behaviors, which reduce the health hazards of PM2.5, for more specific analysis. Three hypotheses were proposed. The results of a comparative analysis showed differences in the mechanisms mediating the relationship between PM2.5 risk perceptions and coping behaviors, between the Chinese and Korean participants. The positive correlation between risk perception and coping behaviors was partially supported, and the ‘negative emotions-risk perception-risk coping behavior’ explanatory pathway was partially supported as well. The results of this study provide valuable insight into the psychology of the public affected by PM2.5 and aid in better communicating the risks of and effective response to the impact of PM2.5 pollution.

This study investigated the factors contributing to older adults’ acceptance of assistive social robots. A survey was conducted to find factors explaining and predicting older adults’ acceptance behavior of assistive social robots. Three factors of older adults’ needs for assistive social robots were found (advanced needs, social needs, and physiological needs) which integrated Maslow’s five levels of basic human needs. According to older adults’ self-reported scores, the most important needs were physiological needs, followed by advanced needs and social needs. A regression analysis showed that the advanced needs and social needs significantly influence older adults’ use intention of assistive social robots. The results can assist in the future design of assistive social robot functions and features targeting the older population.

This article outlines a study on user interaction behavior in a KakaoTalk chat room group that was formed by Chinese immigrant women in South Korea. To study the interaction of mobile instant messenger-based social network services (MIM SNS) users, this study adopted a textual research method based on the perspective of topic-centered interactivity. The study analyzed the correlativity between SNS users’ online frequency triggered by demand-induced motivation and content-induced motivation and characterized the topics of users with different activeness in the behaviors of proposing and responding to topics. The results of this study not only provide constructive references for practitioners on the issue of how to use the SNS of immigrants to exert their sociality and usability in the dissemination of immigration policies and the social management of immigrants, but also confirm the operability and value of the methods used in this study.

In this study, an online questionnaire was administered simultaneously in Beijing and Seoul to investigate the public's channel preferences for air quality index (AQI) information and risk perception of air pollution in order to comparatively analyze the public's information acquisition behaviors in different media environments. As people become more aware of the health risks of air pollution, the AQI has become routine information released when there is a need to warn of health hazards, and many countries are releasing it to the public through a variety of information channels to ensure that the public can perceive the risks and take appropriate measures in a timely manner. This study, through a comparative cross-regional analysis, found that public preferences for accessing AQI information varied across regions with differing media environments. In addition, the correlation between air pollution risk perceptions and information access behaviors varied across regions.