Effects of Perceptions of Climate Change and Flood Risk on Coping Behavior: A Case Study of Taipei, Taiwan

Globalization and population growth have put great pressure on the environment over the last few decades, and climate change has increased associated negative effects. Researchers examine the interactions between human and the environment. Among them, the relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental behavior has attracted particular research attention. However, few studies have addressed the relationships among flood risk perceptions, place attachment, and climate change coping behavior in a densely populated urban area. This study examines the effects of perceptions of climate change and flood risk on coping behavioral intention, and determines whether place attachment plays a mediating or moderating role therein in Taipei, the flood-prone capital city of Taiwan. A total of 1208 questionnaires were collected. An analysis of the mediation effects based on a three-level regression model (Phase I) suggested that place attachment is not a mediator. Adjustment of the model and analysis of moderation effects using structural equation modeling (Phase II) suggested no moderation effect. In Phase III, the mediation effect was reexamined, with the replacement of dependent variables (adaptation/mitigation) with high-effort/low-effort coping behaviors, and one dimension of place attachment was replaced with four dimensions thereof (place dependence and place identity, place satisfaction, place affect, place social bonding). The results thus obtained reveal that the paths of place satisfaction exhibit significant mediating effects between attitudes and high-effort coping behavior. Some paths exhibit significant mediating effects between perceptions and low-effort coping behavior through place satisfaction. Another four paths exhibit partial significant mediating effects through place dependence and place identity and place social bonding. These results suggest that affective attachment of people to local places results in a behavioral tendency to protect or improve those places. The main contribution of this study is its support of meta-analyses of the effects of each dimension of place attachment to provide a better understanding of the effects of place attachment on flood risk perception and coping behavior.