Resilience vs. Adaptation: Framing and action

Responses to climate change may be viewed as requiring primarily “Resilience” or “Adaptation.” We examine how those two terms affect lay responses to the risks of coastal flooding and sea level rise. We use two tasks requiring substantial participant involvement, one providing minimal information and one substantial information. In Study 1, participants spent ten minutes writing an essay about a picture with flooding, labeled with “Resilience” or “Adaptation.” In Study 2, participants used an interactive aid to evaluate moving to a coastal community described as having a policy of Resilience or Adaptation, or having No Stated Policy. In Study 1, both groups judged the threat of flood similarly. In Study 2, Resilience was associated with increased concern about risks, but less willingness to take individual protective action.