The resilience paradox: flooding experience, coping and climate change mitigation intentions

Charles Adedayo Ogunbode, Gisela Boehm, Stuart Capstick, Carolina Demski, Alexa Spence, Nicole Tausch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity and unpredictability of extreme weather events across the globe and these events are likely to have significant mental health implications. The mental health literature broadly characterises negative emotional reactions to extreme weather experiences as undesirable impacts on wellbeing. Yet, other research in psychology suggests that negative emotional responses to extreme weather are an important motivation for personal action on climate change. This article addresses the intersection of mental health and functional perspectives on negative emotions, with a specific focus on the potential that reduced negative emotional responses to extreme weather may also translate to diminished motivation to undertake climate change mitigation actions – which we term the ‘resilience paradox’. Using survey data gathered in the aftermath of severe flooding across the UK in winter 2013/2014, we present new evidence indicating that self-appraised coping ability moderates the link between flooding experience and negative emotions and thereby attenuates the indirect link between flooding experience and climate change mitigation intentions. We conclude that support for flood victims should extend beyond addressing emotional, physical and financial stresses to include acknowledgement of the involvement of climate change and communication of the need for action to combat future climate risks.
Original languageEnglish
JournalClimate Policy
VolumeLatest Articles
Early online date24 Dec 2018
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 24 Dec 2018

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Extreme weather
  • Flooding risk
  • Resilience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The resilience paradox: flooding experience, coping and climate change mitigation intentions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this