Individual willingness to prepare for disasters in a geological hazard risk area: an empirical study based on the protection motivation theory

Public participation in disaster preparedness and mitigation activities become an important part of disaster risk management. The impact of risk perception and protection motivation theory on preparedness in various types of disasters have been widely reported, and risk attitudes have similarly been studied as a factor influencing preparedness decisions. However, the adaptability of the results on the impact of risk perception on preparedness behavior was questioned in recent years. Especially in the field of geological disasters, very limited studies about the protection motivation theory and risk attitudes have been conducted in China. Therefore, this study designed a questionnaire of people’s risk perceptions and the perception of protective measures based on the protection motivation theory and individual risk attitude factors. The involved field research was conducted in Ganluo County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province in 2020. Based on the research data, the structural equation modeling method was used to analyze the effects of threat appraisal, coping appraisal and risk attitudes on people’s willingness to engage in protective behaviors. The results show that individual coping appraisals have a significant effect on the willingness to engage in adaptive behavior, and the risk attitude factor added to the extended model also shows a significant effect on the willingness to prepare for disasters. The results of the study have important practical implications for the encouragement of multilevel participation in risk management in geological hazard-prone areas.