Identifying the influence of disaster education on the risk perception of rural residents in geohazard-prone areas: A propensity score-matched study

Abstract

Improving the risk perception of rural residents is an important factor in disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities. For residents in geohazard-prone areas, disaster education may affect the formation of risk perception. To verify this hypothesis, residents' disaster risk perception is measured in four dimensions using data from 516 rural households in four typical geohazard-prone areas. Then, propensity score matching (PSM) is used to explore the influence relationship. Disaster education is divided into three forms: emergency brochures, classroom training and evacuation drills. There are five main findings. (1) In the four dimensions of risk perception, rural residents have higher perception scores regarding fear and the unknown and lower perception scores regarding possibility and control. (2) Different types of disaster education have a positive impact on risk perception. (3) Among the three disaster education methods of emergency brochures, classroom training and evacuation drills, classroom training has the greatest effect on risk perception. (4) Different types of disaster education have different effects on different dimensions of risk perception. (5) On the whole, the combination of disaster education methods has a greater impact on rural residents' risk perception than a single form of disaster education. One of the main groups for whom disaster resilience is relevant is rural residents in geohazard-prone areas. These findings will provide a basis for promoting people's participation in disaster risk reduction, help local governments develop effective risk communication strategies and improve community resilience in mountainous areas.