Pause, Svea (2025) Growing Resilience: A Multidisciplinary Framework of Psychological and Social Adaptation to Climate Change among Thai Rice Farmers. Research Master thesis, Research Master.
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Abstract
Climate change has severe consequences for rice farming in rural Thailand, threatening the livelihoods of local farmers and global food security. As rice farmers are forced to adapt their agricultural practices to shifting climatic conditions, psychological and social change may also be triggered, such as in their social capital or cultural identities. Focusing the evaluations of adaptive interventions on such changes in addition to purely economic measurements might be pivotal for the sustainability of interventions that respond to climate change. This thesis aimed to answer the research question: What are the relevant psychological and social factors that change with climate adaptation practices? We identified multidisciplinary theory and evidence-based themes of psychological and social change mechanisms among Thai rice farmers, through three analysis steps: (1) Based on a literature review of psychological theories of change, and on insights from multidisciplinary expert interviews, we developed a list of relevant themes; (2) We explored these themes in a qualitative case study in two regions in rural Thailand, including focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with rice farmers (focus group discussions Ngroups = 3, Ntotal participants = 15; in-depth individual interviews N = 7); (3) the empirical data results were integrated with the theoretical list of themes. Thematic analysis of the qualitative field work revealed interconnected changes in worry, drivers of adaptation, cognitive adaptive capacity, social network, social capital, and external resources. Overall, our findings highlight the important role of network support, knowledge sharing in effective adaptation, youth disengagement in farming as an additional threat alongside climate change, and the importance of integrating multidisciplinary perspectives into sustainable development efforts. Ultimately, a framework of psychological and social adaptation responses (PSR-CC) was developed. These insights offer guidance for future research and for supporting the monitoring and evaluation of climate adaptation interventions. Keywords: Climate Change, Adaptation, Resilience, Social Change, Culture, Thailand, Farmers
| Item Type: | Thesis (Research Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Hansen, N. |
| Degree programme: | Research Master |
| Differentiation route: | Understanding Societal Change [Research Master] |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Sep 2025 11:48 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Sep 2025 11:48 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5923 |
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