Disaster myths among disaster response professionals and the source of such misconceptions

摘要

This study examined how pervasive disaster myths would be among disaster response professionals (n = 401) compared to lay people (n = 600), as well as sources of disaster myths among them. Results revealed that both of the groups believed five common disaster myths to some extent. Moreover, the mass media had a positive association with only one myth among these professionals, while the media was positively associated with all the five myths among lay people. In summary, the present findings indicated that disaster response professionals were not more insightful into all the myths than lay people, and that the mass media and popular culture were not the principal sources of the disaster myths among these professionals.