Massey Research Online - Browsing by Author "Vinnell LJ"

Browsing by Author "Vinnell LJ"

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Children and Disasters: A tribute to Professor Kevin Ronan
(Massey University, 2022-11-01) Johnston DM; Vinnell LJ; Becker JS; Kaiser L
In 1997, Professor Kevin Ronan published a paper in the first ever edition of the Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, titled “The Effects of a “Benign” Disaster: Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress in Children Following a Series of Volcanic Eruptions”. Over the next 23 years, Kevin and his many colleagues pursued aspects of children and disasters to both improve practice and advance scholarship in this area. In March 2020 we were saddened by the untimely passing of Kevin. As a tribute to Professor Ronan this special issue of the Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies brings together accounts of current research and practice initiatives inspired by, building upon, and directly influenced by Professor Ronan’s work.
Citizen science initiatives in high-impact weather and disaster risk reduction
(Massey University, 20/12/2021) Vinnell LJ; Becker JS; Scolobig A; Johnston DM; Tan ML; McLaren L
High-impact weather events cause considerable social and economic harm, with these effects likely to increase as climate change drives extremes and population growth leads to commensurate growth in exposure. As part of the World Meteorological Organization’s World Weather Research Programme, the 10-year High-Impact Weather (HIWeather) Project facilitates global cooperation and collaboration to improve weather prediction, forecasting, and warning. As part of this, the HIWeather Citizen Science Project identifies and promotes activities which involve citizens in the warning value chain, from “sensors” where they passively provide data, through to “collaborators” where they are involved in designing, running, interpreting, and applying the research. As well as benefitting global efforts to reduce societal impacts of weather and other natural hazards, citizen science also encourages hazard awareness and scientific literacy and interest. This editorial introduces the HIWeather Citizen Science Project special issue, summarizing the three papers in this issue in the broader context of high-impact weather and citizen science.
COVID-19 vaccine intentions in Aotearoa New Zealand: Behaviour, risk perceptions, and collective versus individual motivations
(Elsevier B.V, 2023) Vinnell LJ; Becker JS; Doyle EEH; Gray L
The global SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic presents a pressing health challenge for all countries, including Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). As of early 2022, NZ public health measures have reduced impacts of the pandemic, but ongoing efforts to limit illness and fatalities will be significantly aided by widescale uptake of available vaccines including COVID-19 booster doses. Decades of research have established a broad range of demographic, social, cognitive, and behavioural factors which influence peoples’ uptake of vaccinations, including a large amount of research in the last two years focused on COVID-19 vaccination in particular. In this study, we surveyed people in New Zealand (N = 660) in May and June of 2021, at which point the vaccine had been made available to high-risk groups. We explored individual versus collective motivations, finding that people who were hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination scored lower on independent self-construals (how people define themselves) but higher on community identity, weaker but still positive perceived social norms, lower general risk of COVID-19 to New Zealanders and higher vaccine risk for both themselves and others, and lower response-efficacy both for personal and collective benefits. Overall, the findings suggest some benefit of collective over individual appeals, but that generally messaging to encourage vaccination should focus on conveying social norms, risk from COVID-19 broadly, and vaccine safety and efficacy.
Homeowners' Perceptions of Seismic Building Performance and Implications for Preparedness in New Zealand
(American Society of Civil Engineers, 2023-02-01) Miranda C; Becker JS; Toma CL; Vinnell LJ
Over the last decade, engineering studies have mentioned the need for meeting societal demands of damage expectations and housing performance for major earthquakes. However, they do not refer to any systematic analysis examining such societal demands, nor have they investigated interactions of this with voluntary seismic strengthening. A questionnaire distributed to homeowners of wooden-framed houses in the Wellington region of New Zealand investigated these issues. Survey respondents expected a better seismic performance of their house after voluntarily undertaking structural strengthening (i.e., positive outcome expectancy) and expected a better seismic performance of their house, regardless of the use of strengthening, than what is accepted by current seismic codes, which aim for life safety (i.e., collapse prevention). Although this study found that experience of damage in past earthquakes was not associated with final implementation of such preparedness measures, access to strengthening information and trust toward providers of information, such as builders, were found to play a key role when adopting strengthening. This study gives insight into the role that outcome expectancy and sources of information play in voluntary structural strengthening of residential low-rise buildings and indicates a need for better engagement, such as working closer with builders as sources of information, to reduce losses in future major earthquakes.
Knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral responses to earthquake early warning in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2023-08-28) Vinnell LJ; Tan M; Rahubadde Kankanamge R; Becker J
Introduction: Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) experiences frequent earthquakes, with a history of damaging and fatal events, but currently does not have a national, official earthquake early warning (EEW) system. Since April of 2021, Google's Android Earthquake Alert System has operated independently in NZ. While recent work has identified general public support for such a system, it is important to assess public knowledge of EEW as well as typical responses to receiving an alert. The protective actions “Drop, cover, and hold” are recommended and taught in NZ and previous research found strong intentions to undertake these and other protective actions in response to an alert. Method: However, it is important to explore a range of responses to these novel EEWs, including how much people know about them, what actions they took in response to the warning, and their overall judgment of the system including its usefulness. We undertook surveys following two widely received alerts from the Android Earthquake Alert System to assess public knowledge, perceptions, and responses to these alerts with a total sample size of 3,150. Results: While most participants who received the alert found it useful, knowledge of both EEW generally and the Android System specifically was low and few participants used the time to protect themselves from shaking. Discussion: These findings reiterate the importance of education and communication around a warning system, so that the public know how to act when they receive an alert.
The Effects of Earthquake Experience on Intentions to Respond to Earthquake Early Warnings
(Frontiers Media S.A, 2022-07-18) Becker JS; Vinnell LJ; McBride SK; Nakayachi K; Doyle EEH; Potter SH; Bostrom A
Warning systems are essential for providing people with information so they can take protective action in response to perils. Systems need to be human-centered, which requires an understanding of the context within which humans operate. Therefore, our research sought to understand the human context for Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) in Aotearoa New Zealand, a location where no comprehensive EEW system existed in 2019 when we did this study. We undertook a survey of people's previous experiences of earthquakes, their perceptions of the usefulness of a hypothetical EEW system, and their intended responses to a potential warning (for example, Drop, Cover, Hold (DCH), staying still, performing safety actions). Results showed little difference in perceived usefulness of an EEW system between those with and without earthquake experience, except for a weak relationship between perceived usefulness and if a respondent's family or friends had previously experienced injury, damage or loss from an earthquake. Previous earthquake experience was, however, associated with various intended responses to a warning. The more direct, or personally relevant a person's experiences were, the more likely they were to intend to take a useful action on receipt of an EEW. Again, the type of experience which showed the largest difference was having had a family member or friend experience injury, damage or loss. Experience of participation in training, exercises or drills did not seem to prompt the correct intended actions for earthquake warnings; however, given the hypothetical nature of the study, it is possible people did not associate their participation in drills, for example, with a potential action that could be taken on receipt of an EEW. Our analysis of regional differences highlighted that intentions to mentally prepare on receipt of a warning were significantly higher for Canterbury region participants, most likely related to strong shaking and subsequent impacts experienced during the 2010–11 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. Our research reinforces that previous experience can influence earthquake-related perceptions and behaviors, but in different ways depending on the context. Public communication and interventions for EEW could take into consideration different levels and types of experiences of the audience for greater success in response.
The impact of the Kaikoura earthquake on risk-related behaviour, perceptions, and social norm messages
(Massey University, 2019-12) Vinnell LJ; Milfont TL; McClure J
The unpredictability of earthquakes poses a significant challenge to examining and understanding the effects of these events on risk-related perceptions and behaviour. Natural experiments, a type of quasi-experimental method, allow for close approximations of treatmentcontrol designs when data collection and earthquake events coincide. This study reports one such natural experiment, testing the effect of the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake on risk perception, perceived norms, and preparation among residents of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Additionally, this research tested whether previously demonstrated effects of social norm messaging on support for recent legislation for strengthening earthquake-prone buildings was weaker following the event. As expected, earthquake preparation and concern were higher after the earthquake. Social norm effects were weaker after the earthquake but did not disappear entirely; these effects therefore appear to be relatively robust even to significant events, supporting the use of social norms in earthquake-related messaging.
Tsunami awareness and preparedness in Aotearoa New Zealand: The evolution of community understanding
(Elsevier Ltd, 2021-11-01) Dhellemmes A; Leonard GS; Johnston DM; Vinnell LJ; Becker JS; Fraser SA; Paton D
After catastrophic events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami there is a clear need for vulnerable countries like Aotearoa New Zealand to get prepared for tsunami. In the last ten years, the New Zealand government initiated major efforts to raise awareness of tsunami risk among coastal residents. This study explores tsunami awareness, preparedness, and evacuation intentions among residents of the East Coast of the North Island in a 2015 survey. The ten chosen locations also participated in a tsunami survey in 2003, with results demonstrating that tsunami awareness rose in the twelve years between the surveys. The 2015 survey also included questions on preparedness and intended action. Even though coastal residents know they live in a tsunami prone area, preparedness is relatively low and high expectations of a formal warning remain, even for a local source tsunami scenario. Furthermore, survey respondents had unrealistic ideas of evacuation procedures. When asked about their evacuation intentions, respondents intended to undertake a number of different actions before evacuating their homes, which could cause significant delays in the evacuation process. Most respondents were also reluctant to evacuate on foot and prefer using their vehicles instead, which could create dangerous traffic congestion. These surveyed intentions are consistent with a study of actual evacuation behaviours in the subsequent 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and tsunami, providing validation for the survey indicators. This paper identifies the procedures least understood by the public and offers some solutions to improve tsunami preparedness.
Why do people prepare for natural hazards? Developing and testing a Theory of Planned Behaviour approach
(Elsevier B.V., 2021-06-12) Vinnell LJ; Milfont TL; McClure J
Natural hazards such as earthquakes and tsunami can have adverse impacts on infrastructures and populations globally. In Wellington, New Zealand, perception of these risks is high but many people are poorly prepared. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour in a pre-registered longitudinal study, we assessed intentions, cognitions, and beliefs about the behaviour of preparing for natural hazards at Time 1 (N= 153) and self-reported behaviour one month later with 61 participants from the sample at Time 2. Experiential attitudes, instrumental attitudes, self-efficacy, and perceived descriptive norms explained approximately 34% of the variance in intentions, which in turn predicted preparation for natural hazards, although confidence in this result is qualified by the small sample size. Further, this study identified several key beliefs related to preparing, such as the belief that preparing helps people to get through a natural hazard event better, that people can make the effort to prepare, and that preparing can be fun and rewarding. These beliefs offer specific and tangible factors which can be efficiently addressed in public education campaigns. Secondly, this study addressed a number of common methodological limitations in how the Theory of Planned Behaviour is conceptualised, applied, and measured, by incorporating consistent inclusion of constructs and belief measures and coherence between measures of intentions and behaviour. This research supports the implementation of the two-factor distinction, splitting attitudes into instrumental and experiential, social norms into descriptive and injunctive, and perceived behavioural control into controllability and self-efficacy as well as including the belief measures which indirectly explain intentions. The Theory of Planned Behaviour has a long history of beneficial applications to a variety of behaviours, but the recommendations made here for future use aim to improve the usefulness of the theory in research beyond natural hazards, including comparisons of findings between studies.

Browsing by Author "Vinnell LJ"

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