Social Capital and Disaster Preparedness of Farmers in Severe Earthquake Areas: The Mediating Role of Risk Perception

Improving household disaster preparedness is one of the most effective ways to reduce disaster risk. Based on a survey of 327 farmers in the areas worst hit by the Wenchuan and Ya'an earthquakes, this study systematically analyzed the impact of social capital on disaster preparedness, and the specific mechanism of action between the two was further analyzed using the intermediary effect model. The results show that (1) faced with the threat of earthquake disasters, farmers are not sufficiently prepared to avoid disasters, with only about 25% having made preparations. Farmers' social capital ability is weak, and the scores of farmers' perception of possibility and severity are 47.44 and 67.19, respectively. (2) Farmers' social capital is positively correlated with their disaster preparedness. With other conditions remaining unchanged, the possibility of farmers' disaster preparedness increases by 3.519, 1.050, and 0.766 units for each additional unit of social network, social support, and social participation, respectively. (3) Possibility perception has a partial mediating effect between social capital and disaster avoidance preparedness. Specifically, social participation indirectly affects farmers' disaster preparedness through the possibility perception. Policymakers should consider enhancing farmers' disaster preparedness through social participation.