The relationship of disaster risk perception with culture and personality

Within the scope of the study, it was aimed to develop a disaster risk perception scale, to determine the relationship of this perception with culture and personality dimensions, also, to reveal whether there was a significant difference between the disaster risk perceptions in the cities that constituted the study universe in terms of demographic variables. The study was conducted with the participation of individuals aged 18 and above in the Mugla and Van provinces in Turkey. Within the scope of the study, 20 individuals were accessed in the first pilot study, while 200 individuals were contacted in the pilot study conducted in the cities determined, and in the main study phase, 900 individuals were reached, which made a total of 1,120 individuals. In the study, "Disaster Risk Perception Scale" comprising of four dimensions (Threat, Anxiety, Fatalism, and Controllability), and 21 items was developed. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed for the structural equation models of disaster risk perception, culture, and personality scales using LISREL 8.7 software, and the scales were validated. According to the results of the analyses performed by using LISREL software to examine the relationship of disaster risk perception with culture and personality within the scope of the study model, the agreeableness dimension of the personality scale was found to be directly correlated with all dimensions of disaster risk perception scale; the conscientiousness dimension was found to be directly correlated with the threat dimension, and the dimensions of the openness to experience was found to be directly correlated with the fatalism dimension. Uncertainty avoidance dimension of the culture scale was found to have a direct correlation with the anxiety and controllability dimensions of the disaster risk perception scale. Also, it was investigated whether there was a difference between the disaster risk perceptions according to the demographic variables and whether there was a difference between the culture dimensions according to the variable of the city of residence. T-test and ANOVA test were performed for demographic variables using SPSS 25 software package. Statistically significant differences were found in perceived disaster risk according to age, the number of disasters experienced, and the city of residence. A statistically significant difference was identified between the avoiding uncertainty dimension of culture scale and the city of residence variable. Keywords: Disaster, Disaster Management, Disaster Risk Perception Scale, Culture, Personality