Herp-Derp, Herp-Derp: Study Reveals Conservatives Less Likely To Evacuate Before Hurricanes
Politically conservative Americans are more likely to ignore evacuation orders before severe hurricanes compared with people who place greater trust in the government, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. A paper by the group found that "cultural worldviews" about the threat of climate change and other factors influence a person's perception about the accuracy of storm forecasts, evacuation advisories and potential damage to coastal property.
Published in the Journal of Risk Research, the paper does not reference political parties or climate skepticism or advocacy. Instead, it refers to people "with strongly individualistic worldviews [who] tend to be less trustful of [government] authorities and less likely to be persuaded by official predictions of risk." The stronger one's individualist worldview, the "higher negative reactance to the hurricane information provided, that is, perceptions that the information is more misleading or overblown."
"Previous studies have found that people with individualist worldviews tend to perceive longer-term environmental issues such as climate change as less risky," said NCAR senior scientist Rebecca Morss, the lead author of the study. "We found that people with stronger individualist worldviews also perceive lower risks from near-term threats posed by an approaching hurricane."
The research has several limitations, including a small sample size, a geographic focus on the Miami area and nearly decade-old survey data. But Morss said the findings are consistent with recent studies of environmental risk perception and that strongly held views tend not to change over time. In fact, a "cultural worldview" may become more fixed based on personal experience, political leanings and cultural associations, she said.
EDIT
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/05/27/stories/1063243187
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