Lightning Risk Perception Among College Students

Lightning is a global hazard, dangerous due to its frequent occurrence and spatial unpredictability. Despite the number of fatalities greatly decreasing over the last 40 years within the United States, people are still killed or injured annually, most often while engaging in outdoor leisure activities during summer months. An additional factor as to why lightning poses a danger is that a majority of the time, people must be responsible for their own lightning safety. It has been reported that some lightning victims were headed toward safety when they were struck, but they did not react soon enough (Jensenius, 2024). This motivates a desire to better understand how individuals perceive their risk related to lightning and if additional tools can help them with their decision making.

This research aimed to gather data on individuals’ perception of lightning risk, and their interaction with resources they could use to influence their own decision making in lightning risk scenarios. A survey was created and distributed to undergraduate students that gathered information on participants’ level of lightning education and insight on decision making. Additionally, a measure of risk seeking behavior was given in order to control for individual differences in risk tolerance. Finally, the survey required participants interact with meteorological imagery (lightning, radar) to simulate decision making in a dangerous lightning scenario. This presentation highlights initial results from the survey.