Gender Differences in Perceived Levels of Resiliency One Year Post Disaster:
Associations with Trust in Various Government Entities
Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Ph.D., Christina Wright, & Jessica Shenesey
INTRODUCTION
Gender differences in post-disaster dysfunction (i.e., depression and PTSD) have been noted (Andrews et al., 2000; Simmons & Nelson, 2005).
Yet, gender differences in perceived wellness, adaptive coping, and resilience post-disaster have been understudied (Bonanno et al., 2006; Norris et al., 2007).
Furthermore, the relations between trust of important government and business entities and perceived resilience is unknown
The current study proposes to fill that gap by considering gender differences in the associations between perceived trust and self-reported resiliency
one-year after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster.
HYPOTHESES
1. Men were expected to report higher levels of perceived
post-disaster resilience than women.
Figure 3. Relations Between Trust and Resiliency: Women
Figure 1. Gender Differences in Coping and
Adaptability
5
2. Respondents were expected to report higher levels of
trust for local entities.
Federal Court
3. Gender differences were expected in the associations
between trust in various entities and self-reported
resiliency.
Federal
Government
Males
METHOD
Participants completed a 20-minute telephone survey
conducted by a USA polling group.
Trust in five entities was assessed (BP, local
government, state government, federal government,
and federal court)
Resiliency was measured by two items: 1) I tend to
recover from setbacks and 2) I adapt to changes well. Both
statements were measured on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 =
strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).
State
Government
Females
3
A sample of 812 (63.9% female, 36.1% male) residents
of Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama
participated in this study. The following age groups
were included in the study: 19-30 (2.8%), 31-50 (17.2%),
51-70 (52.1%), and 71 and older (24%).
Trust was measured by responses regarding how
trustworthy participants perceived organizational
authorities (1 = no trust, 5 = a lot of trust).
4
Local
Government
2
Oil
Spill
1
Recover from Setbacks
Adapt to Changes Well
Respondents of both sexes perceived BP as
least trustworthy authority (M = 1.92).
Respondents of both sexes perceived local
government as most trustworthy (M = 3.33).
Trust in BP was the only significant predictor
of resilience for men.
Trust in local community and state
government were the strongest predictors of
resilience for women .
Response
Event
DISCUSSION
Trust
Local State Federal Court* BP*
Table 1:
Women 3.31 2.93 2.17
2.56
1.81
Men
2.31
2.15
3.43 2.91 2.03
Gender
Differences
in Levels of
Trust
Men reported being significantly more resilient
than women.
For both sexes, local government authorities were
the most trusted after the Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill. This suggests that these community agents
could be better utilized in information
dissemination post-disaster.
Conversely, industry and federal authorities were
the least trusted entities post-spill.
RESULTS
As predicted, men perceived themselves as
significantly more resilient than women.
Trust
Adapt to
Changes
Well
Oil
Spill
Event
Trust in
Local
.10, p < .05
Adapt to
Changes
Well
Response
Figure 2. Relation Between Trust and Resiliency: Men
Funding for this research was provided by a State Emergency Response
Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) to the Alabama Department of Mental Health and University of
South Alabama.
Both, men and women’s resiliency was predicted
by perceived trustworthiness of local authorities.
Women’s perceived adaptability post-spill was
also predicted by trust in state and federal
authorities.
These findings suggest that reducing cynicism
toward governmental authorities can positively
contribute to community member’s perceived
adaptability in the face of a large scale disaster.