Local Storytelling, Collective Efficacy, and Civic Participation in Fukushima, Japan: An Ecological Approach

ABSTRACT

The present study examines how media connectedness influences collective efficacy and civic participation in post-disaster Fukushima. The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in March 2011 permanently changed the lives of Fukushima residents by altering their physical and social environments. The majority of Fukushima residents have been dealing with a new, negative identity related to “Fukushima” imposed upon them. In such a context, the study takes an ecological perspective to examine how people’s connectedness to macro- and meso-level media are related to their collective efficacy and civic participation. Based on communication infrastructure theory, the study found that traditional and social media local storytelling have direct effects on collective efficacy, while mainstream media connectedness has indirect effects on collective efficacy via local storytelling. Mainstream media connectedness and local storytelling have indirect effects on offline civic participation via collective efficacy. This study is one of the few that examined how storytelling on different levels and platforms directly or indirectly affects community outcomes. Implications of the results in the context of Fukushima and other disaster situations are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [Project number: 16K12382].

Notes on contributors

Joo-Young Jung

Joo-Young Jung (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is a professor in the Department of Society, Culture and Media at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Her research interests include social implications of diverse types of communication media in particular spatial, social, and communication environments. She has examined new and old media in different spatial contexts, such as urban and rural communities in different countries; in social contexts, such as disaster and post-disaster situations; and in changing communication environments. Her research has been published in numerous communication journals, edited books and encyclopedias.

Chelsea A. LeNoble

Chelsea A. LeNoble (Ph.D., Florida Institute of Technology) is an assistant professor of industrial/organizational psychology in the Department of Applied Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide. Her research program focuses on the individual, team-level, and organizational factors related to employee engagement, resilience, and recovery from work stress.