| dc.description.abstract | Floods are one of the most destructive natural hazards in Europe and are predicted to be more severe than before in Norway. Lack of effective communication is pointed out to be one of the barriers to protective behavior against flooding, and the need for improvement is existent. Psychological distance and risk perception affect how one makes decisions, which is the foundation of behavior. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the relationship and how it predicts willingness to invest in protective actions. Further, it is of interest to explore how being a parent moderate the association, as it is assumed that parents are more willing to invest in protection for their children. A total of 293 respondents participated in the survey, including 183 parents and 110 non-parents. The hypothesized model was analyzed using SPSS. The results indicated that psychological distance negatively correlated with willingness to invest and risk perception, and there was a positive correlation between risk perception and willingness to invest. Risk perception significantly mediated the association between psychological distance and willingness to invest. The most exciting finding was that the mediation depended on the conditions of the moderator values and that parents were significant, whereas non-parents were not. Thus, all four hypotheses were supported by statistically significant results. The findings improve flood risk communication strategies through important indications on activating flood mitigation behavior. Further, the current study presents empirical results that add to previous parental theories and environmental psychology research. | |
