Knowledge of the behaviors and consequences of catastrophes among psychology students

Abstract

Background: It does not exist many studies on the perception that people have about behavioral consequences and psychological health of having experienced a catastrophe. However, those who have focused on it, along with this research, have found that the different groups studied present distortions about catastrophes, having topical beliefs about the occurrence of behaviors such as panic, looting, disorders, etc. Method: This study was performed with a sample of 544 psychology students and other disciplines. The design corresponds to a retrospective study or ex post facto where it has been used a scale of collective behavior in disasters and risk situations. Results: It has appeared significant differences in the mean scores between the group of psychology students regarding the correction key and in comparison with non-psychologists. Conclusions: These results could indicate that the training given to students of psychology distorts their perceptions about the occurrence of behavioral myths in catastrophes.