Defining and classifying personal and household climate change adaptation behaviors

Abstract

With climate change increasingly affecting individuals’ day-to-day lives, interest is growing in the personal and household adaptation behaviors that people can engage in. Many of these behaviors focus on actions to protect oneself or one's household in response to immediate hazards rather than ones that may achieve longer-term adaptation goals. We conducted a content analysis of 75 publications identified through a systematic literature review to learn how researchers from a range of disciplines conceptualize adaptive behavior in the context of climate change and what kinds of specific actions they describe. Based on this review, we propose a comprehensive definition of personal and household adaptation behavior that considers its purpose (i.e., preventing harm or gaining benefits), timing (i.e., proactive or reactive), time scale (i.e., short-term or long-term), as well as who acts (i.e., the individual alone or with others) and who is affected by those actions (i.e., the individual, other people, or the environment). We classify specific individual adaptation behaviors into civic engagement, consumption, coping, household protection, learning, lifestyle changes, migration, and self-protection. Research is needed to better understand the personal and societal benefits of adaptation behaviors and how to more equitably support these actions in different contexts.