Investigating the Psychological Responses to the Effects of Drought by Cooperative Production Member Farmers in Dehloran Township

Abstract

Knowledge of what farmers do in response to these events can broaden adaptation options and improve resilience within the sector. Among other dimensions it is assumed that psychological issues play an important role in predicting farmers’ intentions and actual responses. In this context, a study was carried out to identify the most prominent drivers of, and impediments to, drought adaptation, using social cognitive theory. A sample of 233 farmers who were members of agriculture cooperative in Dehloran, Illam was selected through a multi-stage random sampling method. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a group of experts. The reliability of the main scales of the questionnaires’ was examined by Cronbach Alpha coefficients, which ranged from 0.65 to 0.83, indicated the instrument was reliable. Findings revealed that farmers’ intention to responses of drought was predicted mainly by self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, extrinsic perceived behavioral control and behavior of other friends. Moreover, outcome expectancy and intention were the determinant of farmers’ actual responses to drought. These findings provided recommendations on factors important to adaptation with drought among farmers in Iran.

Keywords

• drought
• adaptation
• social cognitive theory
• cooperative production member
• dehloran