Modeling Household Earthquake Hazard Adjustment Intentions: An Extension of the Protection Motivation Theory

Abstract

While existing literature has explored how hazard experience, salience, and demographics characteristics shape threat appraisal and hazard adjustment intentions, this study expands on past studies by exploring how additional factors such as qualitative characteristics of the hazard, political ideology, and oil entanglements shape threat appraisals, coping appraisals, and adjustment intentions in response to a techna hazard. This study builds on protection motivation theory (PMT) to explore factors that shape Oklahomans’ intentions to adjust to induced seismicity using data collected from households (n=866) across 27 counties in Oklahoma that have experienced varying levels of seismic activity resulting from oil and gas exploration. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling show that several variables not included in the original PMT, such as feelings of dread or negative emotions associated with earthquakes, are important predictors of intentions to adopt hazard adjustments. This study concludes with examining the effect of additional factors on adjustment intentions and risk perceptions that can help guide future earthquake risk management in identifying and taking appropriate actions that will stimulate precautionary behavior of private actors.