The effect of a forest fire disaster on emotions and perceptions of risk: A field study after the Carmel fire

Abstract

This field study compares emotions and perceived risks of people from the northern region of Israel who were close to the Carmel forest fire and people from other regions who were far from the event. The results show that while the level of fear was higher in the impacted group close to the fire than the group of people who were far from the fire, the level of anger was the same in both groups. In addition, we found that fearful people (especially women) had higher perceived self-risk including risks unrelated to fire (e.g., the risk of being hurt in a car accident). Women showed higher perceived risk and higher fear levels than men in both groups. These results may have implications for social or economic consequences that extend far beyond direct harm to humans or the environment.