How flood preparedness among Jordanian citizens is influenced by self-efficacy, sense of community, experience, communication, trust and training

Abstract

Levels of disaster risk preparedness in developing countries are often inadequate and, consequently, these regions are often severely affected by natural disasters. Improvements in risk preparedness in developing countries have been hindered by a lack of research on the determinants of such preparedness among citizens. To help address this issue, two studies were conducted on flood risk preparedness among Jordanian residents. In Study 1, we conducted a survey (N = 300) among residents of the four Jordan cities that were most impacted by floods in 2018 and 2019. We found positive relationships between flood preparedness and the participant's self-efficacy, sense of community and flood experience, with self-efficacy having the largest influence on preparedness. In Study 2, we conducted another survey of Jordanian residents (N = 330) that examined the influence of risk communication, training, trust in governmental bodies, and self-efficacy on flood preparedness. The results showed that self-efficacy acted as a mediator in the relationship between exposure to flood risk information and flood preparedness training. We also identified a negative relationship between trust in governmental entities and flood preparedness. Based on these results, we argue that less developed countries could become better prepared for floods if their citizen's self-efficacy was increased, and that this might be achieved via coordinated flood risk communications, thorough improvements in design and delivery of flood preparedness training, and improved trust in governmental communicators.