UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1995 The use of temporal constructs as a model for understanding perceptions of environmental hazard Victoria Koehler-Jones University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Koehler-Jones, Victoria, "The use of temporal constructs as a model for understanding perceptions of environmental hazard" (1995). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 3002. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/r7is-p53a This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE USE OF TEMPORAL CONSTRUCTS AS A MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD by Victoria Koehler-Jones A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Department of Sociology University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 1996 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9700413 Copyright 1996 by Koehler-Jones, Victoria All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9700413 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1996 Victoria Koehler-Jones All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation of Victoria Koehler-Jones for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Sociology is approved. Chairperson, Donald E. Cams, Ph.D. Examining Committee Member, David R. Dickens, Ph.D. ning Committee Member, Frederick W. Preston, Ph.D. Graduate Faculty Representative, Dennis L. Soden, Ph.D. _________________________________________ Dean of the Graduate College, Ronald W. Smith, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 1996 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT An extreme physical event, such as a flood, becomes a hazard when social structures and systems are endangered by it—and it becomes a disaster when these structures and systems are actually disrupted. As the twenty-first century approaches and population pressures continue to grow, natural disasters will occur with greater frequency, bringing serious consequences for more people than ever before. The problem of minimizing damage is aggravated by inadequate recognition of hazard in time to mitigate or prevent disaster. This thesis develops a framework for understanding how perceptions of natural hazard are associated with ideas about the passage of time and images of the future. Future perspectives are shown to be social constructs which act to filter perception so that aspects of the environment are either amplified or obscured. It is also argued that images of the environmental future are relatively stable but may change temporarily in response to immediate threat. In an effort to lay the foundation for empirical study of these relationships, elements of future orientation are separately analyzed including the anticipation of change when moving from the present into the future. Ideas about iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the nature of change are thought to be especially relevant to the study of the perception of future disaster. Problems in assessing personal perspectives of the environmental future are discussed and suggestions are made for the development of a quantitative instrument. The section on methodology includes consideration of changes in individual temporal perspectives as the individual moves from non­ awareness to perception of hazard and eventually to hazard resolution and the resumption of normal life. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................iii LIST OF FIGURES .................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ....................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................... X CHAPTER 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ...................... 1 Perceptions of Environmental Hazards .............. 1 Concepts of Time as a Theoretical Explanatory Tool . 5 Procedures Used to Explore the Research Question . 12 Assumptions and Expectations ...................... 13 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE PERCEPTION OFHAZARDS LITERATURE 17 What is Hazard Perception?......................... 17 Difficulties with Hazard Perception .............. 19 Experience and the Life Situation ............... 21 Experience is not a good predictor . .2 1 Socioeconomic status is not a good predictor ......................... 22 Occupation can increase acceptability of r i s k ................. 23 Values and Systems of Belief ..................... 26 Community recognition of disaster . .27 The disaster subculture ................ 28 The personal significance of disaster . 33 Changing cultural meanings of disaster . 34 Attitudes toward scientific communities . 36 Internal versus external locus of c o n t r o l ............................. 40 Looking for o m e n s ..................... 46 The role of c h a n c e ..................... 48 Other cognitive biases .................. 51 Summary and Conclusions .......................... 54 CHAPTER 3 THREADS CONNECTING HAZARD PERCEPTION AND TIME 64 Thirteen Threads .................................. 64 Time: The Common Element ......................... 72 Time is an ordering principle ......... 72 Major Temporal T o p i c s ........................... 76 Temporal perspective................... 77 Pattern and flow ....................... 77 The temporal signature .................. 78 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 4 REVIEW OF TIME LITERATURE ................ 81 Temporal Perspective .......................... 81 The Development of Temporal Perspective . 82 Temporal Perspective and Social Structure . 85 Delinquency, Social Class and Socialization 86 Theoretical and Methodological Problems . 94 Temporal Perspective Summary ............ 101 Pattern and Flow .............................. 103 Time is a Synthesis of Socio-psychological Rhythms .............. 103 Enriching the scope of temporal perspective ................ 106 Patterns of Time ........................ 107 Elastic discontinuity .............. 108 Serpentine progress toward infinity 111 Contemporary viewpoints ............ 113 The Flow of Time ........................ 114 Pacing is integral to future orientation 114 Discontinuous flow .................. 115 Idiosyncratic dynamics of flow . 117 Individual renditions of culture . 122 Contributions from natural history . 126 Pattern and Flow Summary ................ 129 Temporal Signature ............................ 131 Crisis Affects Temporal Identity ........ 132 Hypothetical Patterns of Fluctuation . 136 Deliberate Modification .................. 139 Temporal Signature Summary .............. 141 CHAPTER 5 MODELING