We hypothesize that for disaster risk mitigation, many households, despite being aware of their risk and possible mitigation actions, never seriously consider doing anything about them. In mitigation-focused decisions, since there is no equivalent to warning messages, the decision process is likely to evolve over an extended time. We explore what activates hurricane mitigation protective action decisions through three research questions: (1) to what extent are homeowners unengaged in protective action decision making? (2) What homeowner characteristics are associated with lack of engagement? And (3) to what extent do different life events trigger engagement in the decision-making process? We use the Precaution Adoption Process Model to conceptualize engagement as distinct from decision making; the broader protective action decision-making literature to explore drivers of engagement; and Life Course Theory to examine potential transitions from unengaged to engaged. We use survey data of homeowners in North Carolina to examine these questions empirically. Findings suggest that one-third of respondents had never engaged in protective action decisions, that life experiences differ in their occurrence frequency and effect on households’ mitigation decisions, and that some events, such as renovating, reroofing, or purchasing a home may offer critical moments that could be leveraged to encourage greater engagement in mitigation decision making.

我们假设，对于减轻灾难风险，许多家庭尽管知道其风险和可能采取的缓解措施，但从未认真考虑对他们采取任何措施。在以缓解为中心的决策中，由于没有等效的警告消息，因此决策过程可能会在较长的时间内演变。我们通过三个研究问题来探讨是什么激活了飓风缓解保护行动的决策：（1）房主在何种程度上没有参与保护行动的决策？（2）与缺乏参与相关的房主特征是什么？（3）不同的生活事件在多大程度上触发了参与决策过程？我们使用“预防采用过程”模型将与决策不同的参与概念化；广泛的保护性行动决策文献，以探讨参与的驱动因素；和生命历程理论来研究从未参与到已参与的潜在转变。我们使用北卡罗来纳州房主的调查数据来实证研究这些问题。调查结果表明，三分之一的受访者从未参与过保护性行动决策，生活经历的发生频率和对家庭减灾决策的影响各不相同，并且诸如翻新，翻新或购买房屋之类的某些事件可能会危及生命。可以用来鼓励人们更多地参与减灾决策的时刻。我们使用北卡罗来纳州房主的调查数据来实证研究这些问题。调查结果表明，三分之一的受访者从未参与过保护性行动决策，生活经历的发生频率和对家庭减灾决策的影响各不相同，并且诸如翻新，翻新或购买房屋之类的某些事件可能会危及生命。可以用来鼓励人们更多地参与减灾决策的时刻。我们使用北卡罗来纳州房主的调查数据来实证研究这些问题。调查结果表明，三分之一的受访者从未参与过保护性行动决策，生活经历的发生频率和对家庭减灾决策的影响各不相同，并且诸如翻新，翻新或购买房屋之类的某些事件可能会危及生命。可以用来鼓励人们更多地参与减灾决策的时刻。