Gender, Intra-Household Dynamics, and Household Hurricane Preparedness: An Exploratory Study Employing a Dyadic Interview Approach

This exploratory study targets married, heterosexual couples living in Sarasota County, Florida and uses a dyadic interview approach to understand how the interactions of married couples, or intra-household dynamics, could affect household hurricane preparedness. Interview results reveal that couples consider household hurricane preparedness to be a joint process between husband and wife, but in many cases, partners do not have the same opinions about these preparations. This study also shows the relations between household hurricane preparedness and household division of labor, and how the tendency of wives to prioritize relational preparedness activities could be an answer to understanding why some quantitative studies show that females have lower preparedness levels than males. Other potential problems with this previous research, including the selection of survey participants and the measurement of household hurricane preparedness, are likewise discussed.