Place attachment, identity threat, and wellbeing in bushfire affected areas

Abstract

Natural disasters have significant psychological impacts, yet people's connection to disaster-affected places remains underexplored. Studies using place attachment models to understand psychological disaster impact have yielded inconsistent findings. This study developed Identity Process Theory (IPT) to better explain post-disaster wellbeing and mental health outcomes. Social connection (social capital) was predicted to buffer negative psychological disaster impacts for highly place-connected people. We also developed a novel scale to address a major gap in existing IPT literature: measurement of identity threat. A survey was administered to people from small townships (N = 111) affected by a major bushfire in NSW, Australia, in 2019 and 2020. Identity threat accounted for wellbeing and mental health outcomes better than did place attachment. Stronger identity threat was associated with poorer outcomes. Partial support was found for the moderating function of social capital. These findings support the importance of connection to place and IPT's utility in disaster contexts. This has important implications for environmental psychologists and disaster recovery efforts.