Weathering Beliefs: Unraveling the Interplay Between Religion and Weather Information in Shaping Protective Behaviors

Numerous factors can influence how people react to severe weather information, including location, time of day, and demographic and socio-economic factors. This project investigates how one such factor, religious beliefs, influence how people prepare for, understand, and respond to severe weather information. The Severe Weather and Society survey is distributed annually to members of the public across the Continental United States. It measures several variables about the public’s reception, understanding, and response to severe weather information. Participants in the 2023 survey were asked about their religious beliefs and how those beliefs do or do not play a role in their preparation and response to severe weather events. Preliminary results show that those that rate themselves as highly religious are also more likely to say they are more likely to receive severe weather information, as well as prepare for and take protective measures against severe weather, but achieve lower objective comprehension scores when asked questions about severe weather watches and warnings. This presentation will discuss these results as well as geographic differences in religious beliefs and severe weather preparation. These results will continue the conversation about the motivation for peoples’ decision to prepare for and respond (or not) to hazardous weather forecasts and warnings.