Environmental attitudes and prosociality following a natural disaster: evidence from the 2021 flood in Germany

In July 2021, severe floods devastated parts of Germany, causing numerous casualties and extensive damage to property and infrastructure. As climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events, understanding their social implications is crucial. Using data from three nationwide surveys, we examine environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behaviors, and the support for climate-related policies after the 2021 flood across a wide range of indicators. Results show no statistically significant differences between affected and non-affected regions, regardless of the estimation methods or measures of flood exposure used. We additionally investigate whether the flood is associated with differences in prosociality, assessed through measures such as past charitable donations and incentivized decisions in a dictator game. Similarly, we observe only limited variation in prosociality, though we do find differences depending on whether respondents in affected areas also experienced household damage. These findings challenge the notion that natural disaster exposure measured at the regional level is linked to increased environmental awareness and prosocial behavior.