Association Study On Risk Perception And Adaptive Behaviors,Well-Being Of Air Pollution At The Individual Level

Due to rapid urbanization,China has experienced serious air pollution problems.Frequent and large-scale air pollution problems caused by PM_2.5 had aroused public concern about air pollution.On the one hand,this subjective emotion of concern could drive the public to adopt small-scale personal adaptive behaviors to reduce the adverse effects of personal exposure to air pollution and protect their own health.It was very necessary to understand the current situation of the public adaptive behaviors,and to explore the influencing factors of air pollution adaptive behaviors and their relationships,Risk perception could be an important reason.On the other hand,air pollution could cause harm to the public’s mental health by inducing a series of psychological changes such as concern and worry,and the impact of air pollution on mental health had a great relationship with the public’s subjective perception.In order to solve the above background problems,this research used risk perception,adaptive behavior and well-being as indicator indicators.Based on the psychometric paradigm,adaptive behavior and the WHO-5 well-being scale,a questionnaire was designed.The survey used Kruskal-Wallis test,Mann-Whitney U test,multiple logistic regression model,binary logistic regression model,multiple linear regression model and other statistical analysis techniques.The results of the questionnaire were centered on the following main contents:（1）the influencing factors of the public’s perception of air pollution risk;（2）the influencing factors of public’s air pollution adaptive behavior;（3）the influencing factors of well-being;（4）the policy based on research results.The main conclusions of this research:（1）Spatial differences in risk perception of air pollutionThere were regional differences in public perceptions of acceptance,perceived risk,benefit,and trust in Dongguan,Suzhou,Yangzhou,and Yancheng.In terms of acceptance factor,the average scores of respondents in Yangzhou were lower than those in Dongguan and Yancheng.In terms of perceived risk factor,the average scores of the respondents in Yancheng were lower than that of Dongguan and Suzhou,the average scores of respondents in Yangzhou were lower than that of Dongguan and Suzhou.In terms of the benefit factor,the average scores of the respondents in Suzhou were higher than that of the respondents in Yancheng.In terms of trust factor,the average scores of the respondents in Yangzhou were higher than that of the respondents in Dongguan and Suzhou,the average scores of the respondents in Yancheng were higher than that of the respondents in Dongguan and Suzhou.（2）Influencing factors of air pollution risk perceptionThe perception of air pollution risk was significantly affected by demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the environment.Acceptance was significantly related to the frequency of noise impact,the frequency of air pollution,age,education level,and monthly household income.Support was significantly related to the distance from construction site,the distance from public green space,the frequency of using public green space,marital status,government officials,personal smoking status,and household monthly income.Knowledge was significantly related to the distance from main traffic road,the distance from factory that emits air pollutants,the frequency of using public green space,gender,age,education level,marital status,working environment,government officials,etc.Perceived risk was significantly related to the distance from main traffic road,the distance from factory that emits air pollutants,the frequency of noise interference,the frequency of air pollution interference,the distance from public green space,gender,age,education level,household registration,and the presence of minors in the family.Benefit was significantly related to the distance from main traffic road,the distance from public green space,the frequency of using public green space,and government officials.Trust was significantly related to the distance from main traffic roads,the distance from factories that emit air pollutants,noise interference frequency,air pollution interference frequency,the distance from public green space,frequency of using public green space,age,education level,marital status,household registration information,the presence of minors in the family and monthly household income.（3）Factors affecting the adaptive behavior of air pollution risk perceptionThe higher the level of knowledge,perceived risk,benefit,trust,and support of air pollution was,the more attention behaviors public would make.The older and more-educated the public were,the more attention behaviors public would make.In winter,public attention behaviors would be increased.The higher the level of benefit,knowledge,support,acceptance,and trust of air pollution was,the less daily behaviors public would make.The higher the level of knowledge,support,and trust of air pollution was,the more protective behaviors public would make.The younger and more-educated the public were,the more protective behaviors public would make.The female public would make more protective behaviors.In terms of traffic behavior,benefit,family monthly income,education level,and summer had positive effects on the conversion of environmental protection behaviors to self protection behaviors,while support,acceptance,age,and men had positive effects on the conversion of self protection behaviors to environmental protection behaviors.There was no unanimous conclusion on the impact of Knowledge.In winter,the public in Yangzhou would pay more attention to air pollution prevention measures and used air purifiers more actively.（4）Factors affecting well-beingFrom the city level,the average well-being scores of the respondents in Dongguan were lower than the average well-being scores of the respondents in Yangzhou and Yancheng.The average well-being scores of the respondents in Suzhou were also lower than the average well-being scores of the respondents in Yangzhou and Yancheng.From a seasonal perspective,Yangzhou’s public well-being in winter was higher than that in summer.A further comparison of Yangzhou’s seasonal factors revealed that satisfaction with working conditions and social relations in winter significantly affected well-being.The older,more-educated and male public had higher level of well-being.Public with higher life satisfaction also had higher level of well-being.Public with higher trust perception also had higher level of well-being.In winter,punlic had higher level of well-being.Public with higher perceived risk had lower level of well-being.Based on the research results,the policy recommendations put forward in this article include:（1）It was recommended that management departments spread knowledge and hazards of air pollution to specific groups in a targeted manner.Popularize air pollution knowledge among groups with low awareness of air pollution.Groups with a low perception of the risk of air pollution should be popularized the hazards of air pollution.Disseminate knowledge and hazards of air pollution to groups with a high level of trust in the government and advise them to promote it to people around them.At the same time,focus on the public in the vicinity of traffic arteries,construction sites,sewage plants,and urban green spaces,understand their air pollution risk perception and treatment demands,and popularize air pollution knowledge and hazards to them.（2）In air pollution incidents,attention behaviors would increase significantly.It was recommended that management departments emphasize behavioral interventions by disseminating information on the impact of air pollution exposure to strengthen public awareness of air pollution.Based on the results that not all residents could effectively deal with air pollution exposure,it was recommended that management departments provided detailed action guidelines and protective measures for vulnerable groups.It was recommended that the management department put the knowledge of air pollution in places where women appeared frequently.It was recommended that the management department promoted detailed indoor action guidelines,especially the use of efficient indoor air purifiers.It was recommended that the management department formulated measures to reduce the use of cars in air pollution weather,and to protect public health.It was recommended that the public wore anti-haze masks and took public transportation such as subways and buses.Finally,the study also explained the lack of seasonal data,the deviation of the sample structure,and did not consider the objective air pollution data of the city,and prospected for the follow-up research to provide scientific reference for risk managers and follow-up research.All in all,this research aimed to identify air pollution-sensitive populations,improve the public’s environment to guide the public’s risk perception,understand the factors of insufficient adaptive behaviors to intervene in the public air pollution exposure and provide action guidelines,and identify atmospheric pollution.The influence of pollution risk perception factors provided a scientific basis for improving public well-being,and to a certain extent promoted the development of air pollution risk perception management and risk communication in China.