The effects of trust in government on earthquake survivors’ risk perception and preparedness in China

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• 作者：Ziqiang Han ; Xiaoli Lu ; Elisa I. Hörhager ; Jubo Yan
• 关键词：Trust in government ; Risk perception ; Preparedness ; Yushu earthquake ; China
• 刊名：Natural Hazards
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：86
• 期：1
• 页码：437-452
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Natural Hazards; Hydrogeology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Civil Engineering; Environmental Management;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-0840
• 卷排序：86

文摘

The role of trust in natural hazards risk management has not been widely examined yet. In this paper, the correlation between trust in government and individuals’ risk perception, as well as the perceived preparedness for earthquakes is examined. Survey data from 501 households in a Tibetan area in China affected by the 2010 Yushu earthquake are analyzed. The dependent variables are perceived seismic risk probability and consequences, as well as reported household preparedness for future earthquakes. The main predictor variable is trust in government, while trust in family members, trust in most of people in the society, trust in friends/relatives/colleagues, disaster impact, social support, socioeconomic and demographic variables (income, estimated house value, owned land, number of kids, gender, age, ethnicity, education, job categories, marriage status, political affiliation, religion, rural/urban residence) are used as control variables. Ordinal logistic regression models are employed in the analysis. The results indicate that people with higher degrees of trust in government perceive lower consequences of potential earthquakes and tend to prepare less. In the preparedness model, both perceived probability and consequences are additional strong and significant predictors. Potential theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.