Responding to flood risk in Louisiana: the roles of place attachment, emotions, and location

Abstract

Drawing from protection motivation theory (PMT), we examined how place attachment and negative emotions, alongside threat and coping appraisals, personal experiences, and demographic characteristics, relate to behavioral intentions to mitigate exposure to flood risks in southern Louisiana. We administered a statewide, representative telephone survey to 807 Louisiana residents, oversampling residents living in southern and coastal parishes particularly vulnerable to flood risk. While the results showed no difference depending on participants’ location in the state, there were strong effects of coping appraisals on individuals’ intentions to mitigate their exposure to flood risk, consistent with prior PMT findings. The addition of place attachment to standard PMT variables revealed a nuanced relationship with behavioral intentions. Results show that participants’ place attachment decreased the effects of threat and coping appraisals on some behavioral intentions, such as moving out of the state, while posing no significant effect of threat and coping appraisals on other intentions, such as supporting flood risk mitigation policies. Feeling negative emotions increased the likelihood of participants’ indicating a willingness to move or elevate their home, among other actions. While this study supports the consistency of threat and coping appraisals to predict discrete behavioral intentions, the results also provide insight that may be critical for risk communication initiatives in Louisiana. Namely, individuals with high levels of place attachment may be less willing to leave their community but more willing to engage in behaviors that enhance community resilience, although the more negative emotions they feel, the more willing they may be to take more drastic measures.