Disaster strikes: perceived effects of Hurricane Katrina on the people of New Orleans
Abstract
The current study looked at how factors correlate together to enhance people's life towards a positive direction. Religiosity, belief in a just world, resilience, and satisfaction with life were predicted to have relationships among one another, in which the higher the four items were measured, the higher the person's chances at a full recovery were possible. Self-report surveys were distributed to two organizations in New Orleans: Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association and Community Center at St. Bernard (N = 24, M = 61). All participants experienced the effects of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina and were asked to report current statuses on the latter factors and also retrospectively on perceived characteristics compared to current perceived characteristics. Pearson's Correlations and a t - test was conducted to analyze the relationships among religiosity, belief in a just world, resilience, and satisfaction with life and to compare perceived characteristics from before and after Katrina. Results of the study reported religiosity and resilience to have the strongest positive correlation and comparative measures of before and after disaster did not differ, with the exception of the perceived characteristic of energy.