Farmers' resilience behaviour in the face of water scarcity in the eastern part of Lake Urmia, Iran: an environmental psychological analysis

• Published in: Water and environment journal : WEJ Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 611 - 622
• Main Authors: Shojaei‐Miandoragh, Mahdi, Bijani, Masoud, Abbasi, Enayat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Analysis; basins; Correlation analysis; environment; environment psychology; Environmental attitudes; Farmers; Iran; Lake Urmia; Lakes; questionnaires; Random sampling; Resilience; Statistical sampling; Surveying; surveys; water; Water scarcity; water shortages; Lake Urmia; Iran
• ISSN: 1747-6585; 1747-6593
• DOI: 10.1111/wej.12489

This study aimed to perform an environmental‐psychological analysis of farmers' resilience behaviours towards water scarcity crisis. The study was descriptive‐correlational and causal‐relational and was carried out as a survey. The statistical population was composed of farmers in Aji‐Chay Basin in the eastern part of Lake Urmia (N = 417000), of whom 384 people were selected using stratified random sampling method. The instrument was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. Its reliability was, also, verified using a Cronbach's alpha test and a pilot study (0.60 ≤ α ≤ 0.90). The findings presented the causal framework of farmers' resilience behaviour. The results of the causal analysis further indicated that the three variables of ‘place attachment’, ‘environmental attitudes’ and ‘environmental beliefs’ had the greatest impact on farmers' resilience behaviour towards water scarcity. The paper is concluded with some applied recommendations based on the findings.