How does risk perception impact self-protective behavior of urban residents in China during extreme weather events? Evidence from a questionnaire-based study

Due to the sudden and severe nature of extreme weather events, their damage to lives and societies far exceed those of regular weather phenomena. This study investigates the determinants of urban residents' risk perception and their self-protection behavior in the context of extreme weather, aiming to bridge the gap between risk cognition and corresponding awareness management. Combining psychometric paradigms with risk perception theory, it constructs a behavioral provocation path model that encompasses cognitive variables such as emotion, personal experience and information source, providing a framework for both theoretical support and practical approaches. First-hand data is collected via a comprehensive survey of urban residents in four Chinese regions, and the Structural Equations Modelling (SEM) approach is utilized for data analysis. The results reveal that anxiety and personal experiences fully mediate the link between risk perception and self-protection behavior. Information sources, meanwhile, both mediate this link and directly relate to self-protection behavior. In contrast, knowledge background only has a direct relationship with self-protection behavior. The findings are explained by China's unique context, such as social conditions, environmental characteristics, institutional systems, and cultural background. Accordingly, effective disaster response strategies in China should establish authoritative information dissemination platforms to boost information reception and risk perception, and focus on the role of emotion and personal experience in promoting self-protection behavior.