People perceive human interference with nature as negative, regardless of its purpose

In a study conducted by Rozin (2005), participants rated the “naturalness” of different natural entities before and after they underwent some physical or chemical transformation (for example, freezing, genetic engineering, and mixing with other entities). Results of this study showed that people systematically preferred the entity that was exposed to a lesser number of transformations, even when adding transformations meant giving back the naturalness to the entity (Rozin, 2005). In other words, this study showed that people tend to perceive the interference with nature as negative, regardless of the purpose of that interference. Hence, the preference for natural hazards observed in previous studies might be the consequence of people perceiving man-made hazards as more immoral (Rudski et al., 2011; Siegrist & Sutterlin, 2014).

Note: See source document for full reference.

Cultural Factors: Attitudes toward environmental issues, Worldviews

Hazards: Natural hazards

Disaster Phases: Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery, All disaster phases

Types of Actors Concerned: Non-active citizens

Recommendations:

• Develop risk assessments methodologies, which consider cultural factors, the manner in which people cognitively process information and which employ a gender perspective