Investigation of individual cultural values and perceived gender role on disaster management in Generation Z earthquake victims.

Introduction: High magnitude earthquakes are a natural disaster, often resulting in psychosocial and economic devastation. In patriarchal societies, women may suffer more losses than men and may be disadvantaged in earthquake management. Generation Z has more independent personal characteristics than previous generations, which may have an impact on gender perceptions and individual cultural values on earthquake management. Objective: This study aimed to examine the gender perception and individual cultural values of Generation Z earthquake victims on earthquake management. Method: This descriptive study was conducted in Malatya, one of the cities affected by the earthquake on February 6, 2023, 2 years after the earthquake, with the participation of n = 226 Generation Z earthquake victims who married or sharing a home with a partner for at least 6 months. Earthquake victim information form, Perception of Gender Role on Disaster Management Scale (PGR-DMS) and Individual Culture Values Scale (CVSCALE) were used for data collection. The PGR-DMS measures gender perception, and higher scores indicate a more positive gender perception. CVSCALE measures individual cultural values and has five sub-dimensions: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Collectivism, Long-Term Orientation and Masculinity. Higher score on a subscale indicates that participants embrace the cultural value measured in that dimension for CVSCALE. Descriptive tests, Mann-Whitney U, Chi Squared and Spearman Rho correlation tests were used in data analysis. Results: 75.7% of the Generation Z earthquake victims who participated in the study were between 21 and 25 years old and 72.6% were female. 63.3% of Generation Z earthquake victims were high school graduates and 74.3% were employed. 20.8% of Generation Z earthquake victims had a chronic disease, and 15.5% of them had a spouse with a chronic disease. As a result of this study, the PGR-DMS was higher in earthquake victims whose spouses had chronic diseases and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.030). There was a statistically significant strong relationship between the number of children and PGR-DMS (r = 0.711, p = 0.014). There was a positive, strong and statistically significant correlation between PGR-DMS and Collectivism (r = 0.754, p = 0.021). Conclusion: As a result of this study, having a chronic disease in the spouse of Generation Z earthquake victims and an increase in the number of children positively increased the perception of gender in earthquake management. Generation Z earthquake victims' perception of gender in earthquake management, Collectivism and Long-term orientation were above average. As the collectivism of Generation Z earthquake victims increased, the perception of gender in earthquake management raised positively.