Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the role of second-hand exposure to floods, and the central hypothesis was that knowing someone with experience of the hazard would decrease your psychological distance to floods. This reduced psychological distance would further impact your risk perception. In addition, the relationship between second-hand exposure and risk perception was hypothesized to be moderated by coping appraisal. Prior research substantiates the relationship between psychological distance, risk perception, and flood mitigation. However, no studies have investigated if knowing someone exposed to a flood may impact risk perception.
This study found no significant correlation between second-hand exposure and risk perception, which is thoroughly discussed throughout this study. Furthermore, psychological distance had no mediation effect between second-hand exposure and risk perception. On the other hand, coping appraisal significantly correlated with risk perception, in line with previous research. Still, it had no moderation between second-hand exposure and risk perception, which was expected given the insignificant results from second-hand exposure and risk perception.
