HOW LONG IS LONG ENOUGH: PUBLIC CONCERN ABOUT THE ACADEMIC CAREERS OF STUDENTS FROM AREAS DEVASTATED BY THE WENCHUAN EARTHQUAKE

Abstract

To examine how the Wenchuan earthquake influenced public concern about the academic careers of students from earthquake-affected areas, we conducted three rounds of a survey at 1, 6, and 11 months after the disaster in devastated and non-devastated areas. We asked residents to estimate how many high school students out of 100 in the areas devastated by the Wenchuan earthquake would be admitted to college in the next year. The results indicated that the longer time from the disaster, the more concerned the public (both inside and outside the devastated areas) was about the students’ academic careers. We dubbed this finding a “Psychological Typhoon Eye” effect. The underlying mechanisms and implications are discussed.