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The role of values, norms and affect in relation to water-scarcity risk perceptions and water conservation behaviours in the Western Cape
The effects of accelerating climate change are already being felt globally. Sub-Saharan Africa is at high risk of extreme hydrological events, and increasingly severe and frequent droughts pose a threat to water security in the region. As the impacts of climate change are expected to increase, it is...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Environmental and Geographical Science
2025
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| Summary: | The effects of accelerating climate change are already being felt globally. Sub-Saharan Africa is at high risk of extreme hydrological events, and increasingly severe and frequent droughts pose a threat to water security in the region. As the impacts of climate change are expected to increase, it is important to promote adaptation to drought events by studying the factors that can influence water saving behaviour. The present work studied how three categories of risk perception determinants namely values, social norms and affect, influenced water scarcity risk perceptions and water saving behaviour during the Western Cape drought of 2014-2017 in an urban population living in formal housing in the City of Cape Town. The outcomes of this study are two-fold. Firstly, this research provides evidence for the usefulness of a conceptual framework rooted in risk perceptions literature for understanding how affect, social norms and values fit together with risk perceptions to explain pro-environmental (water saving) behaviour. Secondly, the findings add to the literature on risk perception determinants, water scarcity risk perceptions, and water saving behaviour by showing that fear, self-transcending values, hedonism, and descriptive and prescriptive norms were important factors in shaping water scarcity risk perceptions and water conservation behaviour during the drought. In future drought contexts, the revised framework and the risk perception determinant findings could be drawn on to help understand how values, social norms and affect interact with water scarcity risk perceptions to influence water conservation behaviour. |
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