At the peak of a hurricane watch and warning, participants completed a questionnaire asking about their prior experience with a hurricane (property loss and distress), and their degree of preparation, perceived threat, and distress when threatened by Hurricane Emily (Study 1) or Hurricane Fran (Study 2). In Study 1, age, income, internal locus of control, perceived threat, and current distress predicted preparation. Among participants with hurricane experience, age and distress as a result of the hurricane accounted for a significant portion of preparation variance. In Study 2, age, perceived threat, and hurricane experience predicted preparation. The findings support both the conservation of resources stress model (Hobfoll, 1989) and the warning and response model (Lindell & Perry, 1992). Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.

This project examines protective factors associated with resilience/posttraumatic growth and risk factors associated with posttraumatic stress among firefighters exposed to critical incidents. The participants were 286 (257 men and 29 women) volunteer and paid firefighters in Whatcom County, Washington. Participants completed an anonymous survey asking about demographics, critical incident exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic growth, resource availability, coping, occupational stress and critical incident stress debriefing experience. Most participants had significant critical incident exposure, and about half had attended critical incident stress debriefing sessions. Posttraumatic growth was associated with being female, critical incident exposure, critical incident stress debriefing attendance, posttraumatic stress symptoms (negative association), occupational support, occupation satisfaction, occupational effort, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and personal characteristic resources. Posttraumatic stress symptoms were positively associated with years of firefighting, burnout, occupational effort and disengagement coping and negatively associated with critical incident stress debriefing attendance, posttraumatic growth, social support, internal locus of control, personal characteristic resources, energy resources and condition resources. The findings support conservation of resources stress theory and show that the maintenance and acquisition of resources can offset losses and facilitate resilience/posttraumatic growth. Implications of the findings for enhancing firefighter resources, facilitating resilience and minimizing occupational stressors are discussed.

This cross-national study examined preparation for and psychological functioning following Hurricane Georges in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and the United States. Four to five weeks after the storm made landfall, 697 college students (222 men, 476 women) completed a questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics, preparation, social support, resource loss, and symptoms associated with acute stress disorder. Location, resource loss (especially personal characteristic resources) and social support accounted for a significant portion of psychological distress variance. The findings support the conservation of resources stress theory (Hobfoll, 1989, 1998). Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.

Two conceptual models for social motives that were suggested by the results of Liebrand, Jansen, Rijken, and Suhre (1986) were examined. A goal model suggests that social motive differences reflect differences in interpersonal relations such that cooperators strive for good or moral interpersonal relations, whereas individualists strive for favorable power relationships. A schema model suggests that social motive differences reflect differences in cognitive knowledge structures. Prescriptive message content and partner strategy were manipulated to test these models. The goal model predicted that the prescriptive message would affect behavior most when it was congruent with the S's own goals. The schema model predicted that a message consistent with S's schema would prime related elements of that schema and amplify the usual response to one's partner's strategy. The results generally supported the schema model for cooperators; neither model was supported for individualists.It is not uncommon in social relations for personal and collective welfare to be at odds. One interesting class of such situations are social dilemmas. In social dilemmas, a personally beneficial defecting choice always yields higher outcomes to the individual than a cooperative choice, no matter what others may do, yet universal defection results in poorer outcomes for every individual than universal cooperation (Orbell & Dawes, 1981). One well-known example of a social dilemma is Hardin's (1968) tragedy of the commons, in which each fanner profits by adding as many animals as possible to the communal pasture (i&, the commons), but all farmers face ruin from overgrazing if they all add too many animals to the commons. Social dilemmas are common and are manifest in many serious social and economic problems such as overpopulation, political participation, resource management, trade protectionism, and specialinterest politics (see Messick & Brewer, 1983;Orbell & Dawes, 1981).A number of theorists (most notably McClintock, 1968, andMcClintock, 1972) have suggested that there exist stable individual differences in the value placed on one's own This research is based on a master's thesis submitted by David N.

Four and seven weeks after powerful earthquakes in El Salvador, the authors examined the relationships among demographics, traumatic event exposure, social support, resource loss, acute stress disorder (ASD) symptoms, depression, and posttraumatic growth. Participants were 253 college students (Study 1) and 83 people in the community (Study 2). In Study 1, female gender, traumatic event exposure, low social support, and loss of personal characteristic, condition, and energy resources contributed to ASD symptoms and depression. In Study 2, damage to home and loss of personal characteristic and object resources contributed to ASD symptoms and depression. Posttraumatic growth was not associated with ASD symptoms or depression. Findings support the conservation of resources stress theory (Hobfoll, 1998). Resource loss spirals, excessive demands on coping, and exposure to multiple disasters are discussed.