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Predicting Successful Responses to Emergencies: the Emergency Responsiveness Scale

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Abstract

People respond to disasters in a variety of ways. Some individuals respond to disasters or emergencies with panicked activity while others mobilize resources without panicking. In this article, we propose that the individual response to emergencies is determined by Emergency Responsiveness, the manner in which an individual appraises an emergency situation. We believe Emergency Responsiveness consists of four factors: Risk Taking, Experience with Emergencies, Emergency Anxiety, and Emergency Preparation. In Study One, each of the four subscales of Emergency Responsiveness correlated with personality traits in the hypothesized directions, providing evidence of construct validity. In Study Two, we establish criterion-related validity by demonstrating that a sample of first-responders scored significantly higher than a control sample on all four dimensions. Our results support our hypothesis that Emergency Responsiveness is a measurable individual difference. Implications for first responders and emergency services are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University-San Antonio, One University Way, San Antonio, TX, 78224, USA

    Amy K. Dicke-Bohmann & Cody B. Cox

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  1. Amy K. Dicke-Bohmann
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  2. Cody B. Cox
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Correspondence to Amy K. Dicke-Bohmann.

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No funding was obtained for this study.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Conflict of Interest

Amy K. Dicke-Bohmann declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Cody B. Cox declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Dicke-Bohmann, A.K., Cox, C.B. Predicting Successful Responses to Emergencies: the Emergency Responsiveness Scale. Curr Psychol 36, 209–216 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-015-9402-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-015-9402-2

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