The impact of the level of motivation on the preparedness of citizens of the Republic of Serbia to respond to natural disaster caused by flood

Abstract

The objective of the quantitative research was to examine the impact of the level of motivation on the preparedness of citizens to respond to natural disaster caused by flood in the Republic of Serbia. Bearing in mind all local communities in Serbia affected, or with a high risk to be affected, by flood, twenty of a total of 150 municipalities and 23 cities, as well as the city of Belgrade, were randomly selected. In the selected local communities the research was conducted in those areas that were the most endangered regarding the water level or potential risk. The survey applied the strategy of multi-stage surveying of random sampled households. The research results indicate that those absolutely motivated recorded a higher level of individual readiness to respond to floods as compared to the citizens who believe they are absolutely unmotivated. In contrast, absolutely unmotivated people do nothing to prepare for response. The originality of the research lies in the fact that Serbia has never conducted any research to examine the citizens’ preparedness to respond. The research findings can be used when creating a strategy for improving the level of citizens’ preparedness to respond. The research points to the way that should be used to drive the citizens, according to their level of motivation, in order to raise their preparedness to a higher level.