Coping With Disaster: Trust and Subjective Well-being after 3/11

July 12, 2012 6:30 PM (finished)


Dr. Carola Hommerich

(Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo)

Date/Time July 12, 2012 6:30 PM
Location Room 549 Akamon Sogo Kenkyuto (赤門総合研究棟 ) Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo　 [map]
Abstract In the aftermath of the 3/11 disaster, an apparent strengthening of social bonds (kizuna) gained much attention in public discourse. Discontent with the way the Japanese government handled the disaster was an equally big topic, suggesting that trust in political institutions had weakened. To analyse whether such predictions hold true, I will compare data from 2009 to a postal survey carried out in the Tohoku and Kanto regions in September 2011, and explore differences in trust in governmental institutions and social networks by regional proximity to the disaster area, as well as by personal affliction. Next, I will take a look at the implications of trust resources for subjective well-being, which previous research has shown to function as an indicator for individual resilience. Bringing both parts of my analysis together, I will try to identify groups according to their abilities to cope with the consequences of the March 11 disaster. Responses to an open-answer question about “hope” (kibō) are used to emphasize the different outlooks on the future these groups hold.
Bio Dr. Carola Hommerich is a Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo, where she studies happiness and social inequality in Japan. She is also a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Hitotsubashi University. In 2008, she received her PhD in Sociology from University of Cologne, comparing work values of non-regular employees in Germany and Japan. Since then, her work has focused on the influence of an individual’s perception of his or her objective living circumstances. Recent publications include “The advent of vulnerability: Japan’s free fall through its porous safety net”, in Japan Forum (2012); and “Trust and Subjective Well-being after 3/11”, in International Journal of Japanese Sociology (2012).