NEGATIVE THREAT APPEALS AND EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS - A PERSON-RELATIVE-TO-EVENT (PRE) MODEL OF COPING WITH THREAT

Individual preparation, or the lack thereof, for the occurrences of ex ternal events that threaten the well-being of individuals is an issue of worldwide concern. The present studies were designed to investigate the impact of a particular type of persuasive communication (i.e., fe ar-arousing or negative threat appeals) on preparedness behavior regar ding the possible occurrence of a damaging earthquake. ii general mode l of coping, the person-relative-to-event (PrE) model, emphasizing the relationship between level of appraised threat and person resources, was applied to this issue. It was predicted that negative threat appea ls using combinations of levels of factors that cause a person to appr aise their resources as sufficient in quantity and quality to obviate or minimize the negative consequences of a threatening earthquake woul d increase levels of earthquake preparedness to a greater extent than would communications that do not. Results of Study 1 were partially su pportive of these predictions. In Study 2, patterns of changes in prep aredness behavior fit predictions generated by the PrE model to a grea ter extent when felt responsibility for preparing for the occurrence o f an earthquake was high than when it was low. Implications of the res earch and theory underlying this investigation are discussed.