Premium
Individuals’ religiosity and emotional coping in response to disasters
Author(s) -
Lim Jungkyu Rhys,
Liu Brooke Fisher,
Egnoto Michael,
Roberts Holly A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of contingencies and crisis management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.007
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5973
pISSN - 0966-0879
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5973.12263
Subject(s) - religiosity , coping (psychology) , psychology , social psychology , natural disaster , context (archaeology) , tornado , prayer , action (physics) , anxiety , clinical psychology , geography , psychiatry , theology , philosophy , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , meteorology
Providing information to help individuals cope physically and psychologically with a disaster is critical in crisis communication. However, how individuals cope is relatively understudied. In particular, researchers have examined how people emotionally cope during different types of crises, but not in a natural disaster context and not religiosity. Yet, religiosity can be important during disasters, given that about 89% of adults in the United States believe in God (Pew Research Center, 2014). Through ten focus groups ( N = 77) and a survey ( N = 1,484), this study examines how residents of the Southeast United States cope in response to tornadoes. Findings indicate that participants experience anxiety and fear during a tornado, but fear and hope trigger physical action taking (e.g., sheltering in place or collecting supplies). Prayer during a tornado does not significantly predict action taking. Religiosity significantly predicts physical action taking.