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. Copyright © 2025 Akkaş, Bulbuloglu, Aslan and Cetintas.