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Over the last few decades, flood hazards have had a greater impact on society, meaning that communities increasingly need to work together to enhance their resilience. Literature suggests that preparedness to flooding events is generally low as most individuals do not take protective actions. Therefore, there is a need to stimulate individuals' actions that increase their own and their communities' resilience to flooding. Various factors must be addressed to encourage individuals to take action, such as providing information to improve risk perception, understanding cognitive processes that interpret environmental stimuli against the mental model, and considering social and cultural influences. This paper argues that Social Responsibility (SR), defined as an individual willingness to take up actions that benefit society, is part of a pre-existing mental model that can explain intentions to take preparedness actions that improve community resilience. Due to differing socio-cultural contexts, the SR perceptions of communities in different parts of the world may differ. In order to investigate this phenomenon, data of SR perceptions obtained from 180 completed questionnaires were collected from flooded and non-flooded communities in Semarang, Indonesia, and then compared against those obtained from 313 questionnaires based on a survey of communities in Birmingham and London in the UK. The results suggest that Indonesian communities demonstrate a higher level of SR scores than UK communities. A comparison of SR scores between flooded and non-flooded communities in the UK shows a higher level of SR in flooded communities. In contrast, the comparison between corresponding Indonesian communities indicates an almost similar level of SR. A comparison of SR scores between Indonesian and UK flooded communities shows a higher level of SR in Indonesian communities across several measures. Further comparison of SR scores between Indonesia and UK non-flooded communities demonstrates higher SR in Indonesian communities in all but one measure. This suggests that experience of flooding has a much stronger influence on raising SR perceptions in UK communities. Socio-cultural background may explain these differences in SR perceptions, particularly, in relation to collectivism orientation and the close-knit nature of Indonesian communities. Although higher SR perceptions do not necessarily mean higher levels of preparedness actions, this finding illuminates the important influence of socio-cultural context on community resilience enhancing efforts that rely on collective actions by individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate ethnic differences in perceptions of social responsibility, in relation to flooding, for householders, local businesses and policy makers. Design/methodology/approach – The data were obtained via a questionnaire survey of three communities in Birmingham and one community in South East London, UK. A total of 481 responses were received and used in the statistical analysis. The interpretation of the findings was aided by cognitive mapping to synthesise the data transcripts from 174 responses to the open-ended questions. Comparisons were made between communities in different locations and with different experience of flooding. Findings – Ethnic differences consistently exist within the perceptions of householder and business groups within communities (in different locations) which have recent experience of flooding, but not in the policy maker group or in a community without recent flood experience. The finding also suggests three different levels of resilience and their association with different ethnic groups. Research limitations/implications – Future research should conduct further analysis with equal ethnic representation throughout each community group so that more ethnic groups can be investigated and compared. For a more comprehensive understanding, further investigation should be conducted across different communities in different countries with different environmental hazards. Practical implications – The findings contribute to the understanding of the influence of demographic factors in disaster management field, and can provide useful knowledge for targeted and tailored strategies of communication of flood information. Originality/value – The research represents the first attempt to investigate ethnic differences in perceptions of social responsibility of householders, small businesses and policy makers for the community resilience to flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]