Dr. Jason Adkins co-authors article on disaster preparedness 

Morehead State University Assistant Professor of Political Science Dr. Jason Adkins recently authored an article in the journal Politics and Religion published by Cambridge University Press.  

Adkins, along with Dr. Paul A. Djupe, professor of political science at Denison University, and Dr. Jacob R. Neihesiel, associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo, co-authored the article, “Preparedness Behavior and the Apocalypse: Religion and Politics in the post-2020 Election Era.”   

Disaster preparedness is a term that usually means preparing for a long-term event that disrupts standard supplies and is more severe than preparing for severe weather storms. According to the study, belief in a coming apocalypse strongly correlates to disaster-prepping behavior.  

Using an original survey experiment fielded online in the spring of 2021, Adkins and his co-authors also tested whether various religious factors besides belief in a coming apocalypse accounted for prepping behavior. Motivations for disaster prepping include a Christian apocalypse linked to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, along with signs of a possible Second Coming, including political upheaval, climate change, and severe storms. Election results where individuals vehemently oppose the winner also prompted disaster prepping, as evidenced by social media posts by religious leaders and others, that link an election win to a coming apocalypse.  

“We know that there are religious leaders and others who believe in an apocalypse who think we need to prepare for an apocalypse,” Adkins said. “While specific religious motivations for prepping were not supported by our results, we still see a link between belief in an apocalypse to prepping.”  

The article is available for free online on the journal’s official website.  

Adkins also serves as coordinator of the political science major and minor at MSU. To learn more about the political science program at MSU, email jm.adkins@moreheadstate.edu or call 606-783-2144.