Does place visualisation increase household preparedness for natural hazard events? A longitudinal intervention

Abstract

Novel approaches are needed to increase preparedness behaviours in populations with high disaster risk. Crucially, such approaches need to take into account the relationships that people have with place. We report a randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of an online place attachment mental visualisation task to increase preparedness behaviours.Findings from a pilot (Study 1) using pre and post-test measures showed mixed evidence for the influence of mental visualisation on place attachment. Using a pre-registered randomised controlled trial with a two-week follow-up in a community sample (Study 2), we expected that visualising one's house or neighbourhood would result in stronger intentions to prepare, and greater implementation of preparedness behaviours at a follow-up, when compared to visualising a neutral place. Findings showed no main effect of visualisation on survival, mitigation, or community preparedness behaviours. These studies broadly indicate that our online mental place visualisation task was not sufficient to influence preparedness behaviours. We discuss implications of these findings for the advancement of place attachment theory and behaviour-change techniques.

Place Attachment and Disaster Preparedness: Examining the Role of Place Scale and Preparedness Type

“…Greater knowledge of how place attachment is associated with different types of preparedness provides greater confidence in the impact of any evidencebased intervention that may be trialed moving forward. One example of how this could be approached is through facilitating the active awareness of peoples' attachments to their houses and neighborhoods as a means of increasing preparedness (e.g., Wallis et al, 2021). More broadly, this research also gives added significance to the role of place attachment in explaining behavior (i.e., through mediating the length of residence and home ownership to preparedness link).…”

“…In line with this emphasis on greater precision, rather than treating "disaster preparedness" as one behavioral category, the second aim of our research is to understand the extent to which place attachment is associated with different types of preparedness (e.g., Spittal et al, 2008). We differentiate between survival, mitigation, and community behaviors (for a similar approach see Wallis et al, 2021). Survival behaviors, for instance, directly contribute to the safety and wellness of individuals once a natural hazard event has occurred (e.g., storing food and water).…”

Place Identity and Traumatic Experiences in the Context of Wildfires

“…It also has an influence on their perceptions of climate change, and may increase the intention of adopting adaptive behaviours. However, studies have typically only focused on linkages to residential places, and it is probable that place identity for recreational spaces (e.g., natural spaces) is also relevant in understanding disaster prevention behaviours [55]. Further studies should consider this aspect, as well as exploring how the perceptions of life impact experiences influence perceived control and how this relates to coping strategies, including the role that place identity has in the perception of control.…”

Anticipating environmental losses: Effects on place attachment and intentions to move

“…There is mixed evidence to date on the utility of visualisation techniques in place attachment research. Wallis et al. (2021) found that mental visualisations of disaster did not have the anticipated effect of increasing mitigation or preparedness behaviours.…”