Attitudes and Trust in Leveraging Integrated Sociotechnical Systems for Enhancing Community Adaptive Capacity
Attitudes and Trust in Leveraging Integrated Sociotechnical Systems for Enhancing Community Adaptive Capacity – Phase III
Principal Investigator: Cynthia Chen, Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Co-Principal Investigator: Daniel Abramson, Associate Professor, Department of Urban Design and Planning
Project Duration: 12 months
Project Budget (Federal UTC Funds): $100,947
Project Budget (Cost-share): $50,473
Institution: University of Washington
Abstract
Current work in the area of resource sharing for disaster response and recovery assumes a top- down, centralized perspective. This study addresses a gap in knowledge about how resources might be shared among community members when a centralized supply of resources is not available, as might occur in a large-scale event such as a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. In the case of such a disaster, community members’ willingness to share resources with one another could contribute to the relative success or failure of communities to be locally self-sufficient if required. This research draws upon data gathered from a community-scale sample survey set in the Pacific Northwest, a region in which earthquakes are a certain, though largely unpredictable, hazard. In order to better understand the potential for resource sharing among community members in the event of an earthquake, we analyze three attitudinal variables related to both actual disaster preparedness and anticipated willingness to share: level of concern about disasters, place attachment, and trust. Our findings reveal a negative association between level of concern and actual disaster preparedness, while willingness to share is most strongly influenced by trust. Additional observed relationships between trust, place attachment, and community social network size suggest a need for further research in this area. Better understanding willingness to share and available resources at the community level can help to inform both grassroots efforts and more formal disaster preparedness organizations regarding targeted interventions for improving disaster preparedness.