Wie is verantwoordelijk, de overheid of ik? De invloed van gepercipieerde verantwoordelijkheid en andere variabelen op informatiezoek- en zelfredzaam gedrag

An accident on the railway track with hazardous substances can have serious consequences for society. The government’s task is to inform its citizens about this matter, but increasingly calls on the personal responsibility of the citizen. The question is to what extent a high sense of personal responsibility causes people to be more inclined to take actions to protect themselves against the consequences of the risks of rail transport with hazardous substances. In addition to personal responsibility, the extent to with trust in government, risk perceptions, self-efficacy, response-efficacy, affective response and informations needs are related to information-seeking behavior and self-protective actions were measured through a survey (N = 780). The results indicate that self-efficacy and response-efficacy are the only direct predictors of self-protective actions. Personal responsibility appears to be no direct predictor of self-protection, but is positively influenced by self- and response-efficacy. People who see the need for the recommended self-protective actions and think they are able to execute them, have a higher sense of personal responsibility and show more self-protective actions.