Hi all, Climate change is contributing to more frequent and severe natural disasters worldwide. What makes communities resilient in these situations? One important element that predicts a community's resilience in the face of disaster is the strength of its social ties. After the 9.0 earthquake and 60-foot tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, political scientist Daniel Aldrich and his research team reviewed cities along Japan’s coast, finding significant variation in death and recovery rates. After three years of research, including 100 interviews and data collected on many factors including wave height, crime rate, and even voter behavior, Aldrich and his team found that death rates and recovery afterward could be predicted by the interconnectedness of a community.
In the face of disaster, the most likely heroes are your neighbors. A 2020 study on human vulnerability to landslides found that among 38 landslides worldwide, 77% of rescued survivors were found by their neighbors. As an example, after Hurricane Helene hit Florida in late September, a dozen victims credited their survival to their surfer neighbor who paddled to their rescue with his surfboard. Click here for that story. The relative strength of social ties in the face of disaster depends on social infrastructure, the spaces and places that maintain human connection. When taking action to protect people against disasters such as hurricanes, governments tend to focus their investments on physical infrastructure like concrete seawalls. But social infrastructure, such as community centers, libraries, and parks, where people meet, share information, and connect, is also vitally important. These are the places where we solve collective action problems, including post-disaster recovery. According to Aldrich, there is a statistically significant relationship between social infrastructure and reduced mortality rates, particularly among the most vulnerable. This makes sense from a social marketing perspective. One of the key frameworks in social marketing is the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. “Place” refers to the location where the behavior occurs. To enable survival amidst disaster and coordination afterward, there must be a “place” for those behaviors. The more places we have to gather and coordinate, the more pro-social behavior occurs. The more pro-social behavior, the less people perish. Thankfully, pro-social behavior is the norm after disaster strikes. More government investments in community organizing and social infrastructure could further save lives.
To read the Behavioural Scientist’s full story on this, click here.
In the face of disaster, the most likely heroes are your neighbors. A 2020 study on human vulnerability to landslides found that among 38 landslides worldwide, 77% of rescued survivors were found by their neighbors. As an example, after Hurricane Helene hit Florida in late September, a dozen victims credited their survival to their surfer neighbor who paddled to their rescue with his surfboard. Click here for that story. The relative strength of social ties in the face of disaster depends on social infrastructure, the spaces and places that maintain human connection. When taking action to protect people against disasters such as hurricanes, governments tend to focus their investments on physical infrastructure like concrete seawalls. But social infrastructure, such as community centers, libraries, and parks, where people meet, share information, and connect, is also vitally important. These are the places where we solve collective action problems, including post-disaster recovery. According to Aldrich, there is a statistically significant relationship between social infrastructure and reduced mortality rates, particularly among the most vulnerable. This makes sense from a social marketing perspective. One of the key frameworks in social marketing is the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. “Place” refers to the location where the behavior occurs. To enable survival amidst disaster and coordination afterward, there must be a “place” for those behaviors. The more places we have to gather and coordinate, the more pro-social behavior occurs. The more pro-social behavior, the less people perish. Thankfully, pro-social behavior is the norm after disaster strikes. More government investments in community organizing and social infrastructure could further save lives.
To read the Behavioural Scientist’s full story on this, click here.
