Ratna K. Shrestha, Raunak Shrestha, Sara Shneiderman, and Jeevan Baniya have just published a new academic article about the recovery following the 2015 earthquakes entitled “Beyond Reconstruction: What Leads to Satisfaction in Post-Disaster Recovery?” in the Journal of Happiness Studies. The authors found that freedom of choice throughout the reconstruction process is a much stronger predictor of satisfaction than the extent of the reconstruction. They were surprised to find that factors such as income, education, location, occupation, household size and age of respondents did not statistically affect satisfaction in the reconstruction and recovery processes. The only statistically significant factors in levels of satisfaction, aside from freedom of choice, were gender and ethnicity. As the authors note, “These findings underscore the importance of freedom, and ethnic or gender-specific policies, in promoting well-being in post-disaster recovery.”
Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00642-6