Development of a Disaster Attitude Scale and Assessment of University Students' Attitudes Towards Disasters

Yıl 2019, Cilt: 19 Sayı: 4, 457 - 467, 26.10.2019

Ayça Hatice Türkan , İbrahim Kılıç , Murad Tiryakioğlu

https://doi.org/10.21121/eab.476531

Cited By: 4

Öz

Humanity
is exposed to numerous disasters all around the world. Both natural and
man-made disasters might lead to very important economic and social
consequences and might pose a significant threat to public health and its
future. This
study aims to develop a scale to measure attitudes towards disasters by
considering three dimensions of attitude: cognitive, affective and behavioural.
A survey-based study was carried out on a sample of 787 undergraduates at Afyon
Kocatepe University in Turkey. A five-point Likert scale including 23 items was
used to quantify students’ attitudes. The results obtained from the survey
revealed a high level of affective attitudes and a low level of behavioural
attitudes among the university students. Moreover, affective and behavioural
attitudes differed based on the students’ genders and their study programme.
Attitudes towards disasters are not at the required level according to these
measurements made at the local level. It is necessary to produce and implement
policies in the scope of preparation for a possible crisis.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Attitude scale, disaster, earthquake, public health

Kaynakça

• Ahayalimudin, N., & Osman, N. N. S. (2016). Disaster management: Emergency nursing and medical personnel’s knowledge, attitude and practices of the East Coast region hospitals of Malaysia. Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal, 19(4), 203-209.
• Baytiyeh, H., & Öcal, A. (2016). High school students’ perceptions of earthquake disaster: A comparative study of Lebanon and Turkey. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 18, 56-63.
• Blackmon, B. J., Lee, J., Cochran Jr., D. M., Kar, B., Rehner, T. A., & Baker Jr., A. M. (2017). Adapting to life after Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: An examination of psychological resilience and depression on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Social Work in Public Health, 32(1), 65-76.
• Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009). Gender differences in preferences. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(2), 448-474.
• Dooley, D., Catalano, R., Mishra, S., & Serxner, S. (1992). Earthquake preparedness: predictors in a community survey. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22(6), 451-470.
• Edwards, A. L. (1983). Techniques of attitude scale construction. Ardent Media.
• Grimm, A., Hulse, L., Preiss, M., & Schmidt, S. (2014). Behavioural, emotional, and cognitive responses in European disasters: results of survivor interviews. Disasters, 38(1), 62-83.
• Honda, A., Wiwattanapantuwong, J., & Abe, T. (2014). Japanese university students’ attitudes toward the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 40, 147-156.
• IFRC (2015). World Disasters Report 2015. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from https://ifrc-media.org/interactive/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1293600-World-Disasters-Report-2015_en.pdf
• Junn, E. N., & Guerin, D. (1996). Factors related to earthquake preparedness among child care professionals: Theory and policy implications. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 14(3), 343-359.
• Keim, M. E. (2008). Building human resilience: the role of public health preparedness and response as an adaptation to climate change. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35(5), 508-516.
• Likert, R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology, 22, 5-55.
• Lindell, M. K., & Perry, R. W. (2003). Communicating environmental risk in multiethnic communities. Sage Publications.
• Lindholm, J., Carlson, T., Djupsund, G., Gögvӓg, J., & Strandberg, K. (2015). Citizens’ emotional and cognitive responses to focusing events--an Experimental study. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 33(3), 407-427.
• Lovekamp, W. E. (2006). Gender, race/ethnicity and social class differences in disaster preparedness, risk and recovery in three earthquake-stricken communities (Doctoral dissertation). Southern Illinois University Carbondale, United States – Illinois.
• Maltby, J., Day, L., & Macaskill, A. (2010). Personality, individual differences and intelligence. Harlow: Pearson Education.NEA (National Education Association of the United States) (1961). NEA handbook. National Education Association.
• Neumayer, E., & Plümper, T. (2007). The gendered nature of natural disasters: The impact of catastrophic events on the gender gap in life expectancy, 1981–2002. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 97(3), 551-566.
• Olson, J. M., & Zanna, M. P. (1993). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 44(1), 117-154.
• Ozkazanc, S., & Yuksel, U. D. (2015). Evaluation of disaster awareness and sensitivity level of higher education students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 197, 745-753.
• Rosenberg, M. J., & Hovland, C. I. (1960). Cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of attitudes. Attitude organization and change: An analysis of consistency among attitude components, 3, 1-14.
• Rottach, P. (n.d.) Background and Components of Disaster Risk Reduction. Retrieved from http://www.preventionweb.net/files/24122_24122backgroundcomponentsofdrractdi.pdf
• Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 8(2), 23-74.
• Smith, M. B. (1968). Attitude change. International encyclopedia of the social sciences. Crowell Collierand Mac Millan.Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
• Terpstra, T. (2011). Emotions, trust, and perceived risk: Affective and cognitive routes to flood preparedness behavior. Risk Analysis, 31(10), 1658-1675.
• Tierney, K. J., Lindell, M. K., & Perry, R. W. (2001). Facing the unexpected: Disaster preparedness and response in the United States. Joseph Henry Press.
• Winslow, C. E. A. (1923). The evolution and significance of the modern public health campaign. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
• Zanna, M. P., & Rempel, J. K. (1988). Attitudes: A new look at an old concept. The Social Psychology of Knowledge, 8, 315-334.