Judgement days: moral attitudes in the wake of local disasters. Issue 1 (13th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Urbatsch, R.
• Is Part Of: Disasters. Volume 40:Issue 1(2016:Jan.)
• Page Start: 26
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2015-08-13
• Subjects: homosexuality -- morality -- natural disasters -- opinion -- scapegoating -- set‐point theory; Disasters -- Periodicals; Disaster relief -- Periodicals; Emergency management -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1111/disa.12138
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0361-3666

Abstract

Abstract : The deaths and destruction stemming from a disaster are traumatic enough to implicate victims' beliefs not only about disasters themselves but also about other social and political concerns. In particular, disasters are associated with the scapegoating of out‐groups, suggesting that even deep‐rooted moral concerns may shift, at least temporarily, after disasters. This study uses exposure to local natural disaster fatalities to examine moral judgements regarding gays 1 in United States surveys from 1984–98. Survey respondents whose county has suffered a disaster feel appreciably more negatively towards gays, even though most of the disasters in this data set are relatively small and local. The increased antipathy towards gays dissipates within months, and is most marked among those who had, before the disaster, considered themselves more religious. These results raise the possibility that some groups, especially those already marginalised by society, may suffer in a backlash in the wake of a natural disaster.