Defending against environmental threats: Unveiling household adaptation strategies and population heterogeneity

Humanity faces a variety of risks from pollution and environmental degradation. Societal advancement has equipped the public with numerous self-protection measures to mitigate these threats. However, the ways in which individuals deploy and balance self-defence mechanisms within this complex risk landscape and the resulting consequences remain largely unexplored. Drawing on a detailed survey of households’ self-defence practices, this study rigorously analyses the heterogeneity and driving factors behind household-level self-defence strategies. Through exploratory latent class modelling, we identified four distinct defence patterns: inaction, water-sensitive, air-sensitive, and multifaceted. These patterns reveal varied defence capabilities among the population. By integrating frameworks from economics and social psychology, significant disparities were found in the driving factors behind these patterns. Practices aimed at combating air pollution are primarily driven by the actual severity of pollution and perceived coping capabilities, whereas measures to enhance water quality are influenced more by perceived threats. This disparity arises from variations in information availability and health awareness. The study also highlights a misalignment between the distribution of defence capabilities and the levels of pollution. Given that income restricts self-defence options, this mismatch indicates that economically disadvantaged groups are disproportionately affected by severe health inequalities.