Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun
Air pollution is a key environmental issue affecting the urban population in the urban cities of Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) countries. It is particularly detrimental to marginalized occupation groups like street vendors, labourers and drivers who work outdoors for their livelihood. There are mitigati...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Communications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad2874 |
| _version_ | 1797299359976521728 |
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| author | Sugat B Bajracharya Amina Maharjan Nidhi Singh Nandini Sanyal Vishal Singh Sheikh Tawhidul Islam |
| author_facet | Sugat B Bajracharya Amina Maharjan Nidhi Singh Nandini Sanyal Vishal Singh Sheikh Tawhidul Islam |
| author_sort | Sugat B Bajracharya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Air pollution is a key environmental issue affecting the urban population in the urban cities of Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) countries. It is particularly detrimental to marginalized occupation groups like street vendors, labourers and drivers who work outdoors for their livelihood. There are mitigation strategies to reduce the brunt of air pollution that work in the long run. However, these strategies will need time to implement and operationalize. Adaptation behaviours and measures, in this context, are urgently required and become vital to cope with the impacts of air pollution exposure especially for highly exposed informal workers who have very little means of avoiding it. Adaptation behaviour is very complex and depends on socioeconomic and psychological factors. In this paper, we assess the impact of psychological factors like perception and motivation on the adaptive behaviour of the informal workers using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Our findings from Dehradun show that concern behaviour towards air pollution was strongly affected by motivation and perception factors. Adaptive behaviour in the form of both concern behavior and the extent of use of additional protective measures is dependent on how the risks of air pollution and related adaptation measures are perceived by the workers. In addition to this, certain adaptation behaviours like changing or adjusting the daily normal behaviour to avoid air pollution exposure are not feasible as they have direct implications on daily wage earnings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:49:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-674ba536b4e24ccdb5f520204ce306ab |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2515-7620 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:49:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-674ba536b4e24ccdb5f520204ce306ab2024-02-23T11:35:23ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202024-01-016202501610.1088/2515-7620/ad2874Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradunSugat B Bajracharya0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7944-205XAmina Maharjan1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4002-3242Nidhi Singh2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5784-6678Nandini Sanyal3Vishal Singh4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6023-7075Sheikh Tawhidul Islam5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9697-4306International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) , Kathmandu, NepalInternational Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) , Kathmandu, NepalCentre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR) , Uttarakhand, IndiaScience Connect Ltd , Dhaka, BangladeshCentre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR) , Uttarakhand, IndiaInstitute of Remote Sensing and GIS, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Disaster Management and Climate Change Analytics in South Asia, United Nations University, Ontario, CanadaAir pollution is a key environmental issue affecting the urban population in the urban cities of Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) countries. It is particularly detrimental to marginalized occupation groups like street vendors, labourers and drivers who work outdoors for their livelihood. There are mitigation strategies to reduce the brunt of air pollution that work in the long run. However, these strategies will need time to implement and operationalize. Adaptation behaviours and measures, in this context, are urgently required and become vital to cope with the impacts of air pollution exposure especially for highly exposed informal workers who have very little means of avoiding it. Adaptation behaviour is very complex and depends on socioeconomic and psychological factors. In this paper, we assess the impact of psychological factors like perception and motivation on the adaptive behaviour of the informal workers using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Our findings from Dehradun show that concern behaviour towards air pollution was strongly affected by motivation and perception factors. Adaptive behaviour in the form of both concern behavior and the extent of use of additional protective measures is dependent on how the risks of air pollution and related adaptation measures are perceived by the workers. In addition to this, certain adaptation behaviours like changing or adjusting the daily normal behaviour to avoid air pollution exposure are not feasible as they have direct implications on daily wage earnings.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad2874protection motivation theoryinformal workersair pollutionadaptation behavioururban informal employment |
| spellingShingle | Sugat B Bajracharya Amina Maharjan Nidhi Singh Nandini Sanyal Vishal Singh Sheikh Tawhidul Islam Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun Environmental Research Communications protection motivation theory informal workers air pollution adaptation behaviour urban informal employment |
| title | Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun |
| title_full | Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun |
| title_fullStr | Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun |
| title_short | Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? evidence from chittagong and dehradun |
| title_sort | do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups evidence from chittagong and dehradun |
| topic | protection motivation theory informal workers air pollution adaptation behaviour urban informal employment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad2874 |
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