A brush with disaster can lull one into a sense of security instead of prompting one to take precautions, US researchers say.
Lead author Robin Dillon and Catherine Tinsley of Georgetown University say researchers compared people's choices about purchasing flood insurance after some had experienced a close call with flood damage, while others had not.
Both participants from the general public and experts in the fields of risk analysis and natural disasters who had experienced a close call chose less insurance than people who had not experienced a a brush with disaster.
In the second part of the study, participants were queried about whether to evacuate from a hurricane. The same findings emerged - if the person had previously had escaped disaster by chance, that person was less likely to be willing to evacuate when faced with potential hurricane weather.
The findings are published in the journal Risk Analysis.
美国研究人员近日表示，经历一次灾难并不会让人提心吊胆未雨绸缪，反而会让人觉得更有安全感。
来自乔治城大学的研究员罗宾和凯瑟琳称，就购买洪水保险意愿方面，他们对从洪水灾害中侥幸逃生者和从未经历过灾害者进行了比较。
无论是普通大众，还是自然灾害风险分析领域的专家，但凡此人经历过死里逃生，其选择的保额就会低于从未经历过灾害者所选择的保额。
而在实验的第二部分中，研究人员询问受试者是否愿意在飓风来临前撤离。结果相同——如果受试者之前曾侥幸逃脱，那么面对可能发生的飓风袭击他会更倾向于留下来。
这些实验结果刊登在《风险分析》杂志上。