As the weather warms up in the UK, researchers from Bournemouth University are warning that some water safety messages need rethinking if they are to resonate with young and middle-aged men, the people most at risk of drowning.
In a new study, “Fighting Instinct: The Brain, Emotions and Decision Making in the Water”, the researchers argue that for many people, the human brain does not process warning signs that depict the open water as a dangerous place because it conflicts with the sense of enjoyment they feel when they are by the water.
The study has been published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education.
“Unlike road safety messages, where the dangers are clear and obvious to everyone, we look at the water differently because it helps us feel calm and relaxed and we’re more likely to ignore the signs telling us about dangers. This means a different approach is needed for people to understand the risks,” said co-author Dr Jill Nash, Senior Lecturer in Advertising and Marketing Communications at Bournemouth University.
"Just telling people not to go into the water because it’s dangerous doesn’t work. Understanding the emotional factors that impact how we make decisions around the water is crucial for developing safety campaigns that improve our behaviours," she added.
Dr Nash and co-author Dr Sam Hills, also from Bournemouth University, are using their findings to work with the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the RNLI to help frame messages for future safety campaigns.
Her latest research involves trialling a set of smart glasses which reads emotions, alongside Professor Fred Charles and Dr Ellen Seiss from BU’s MINE Cluster. Using these glasses, they monitored young men’s real time reactions to watching water safety campaigns to understand which types of messages evoked emotional engagement and potentially make safer decisions around the water.
“Globally men are eighty percent more likely to drown than women, and the figures show middle-aged men and teenage boys have the highest risk” Dr Nash explained. “No one’s ever properly explored why that is so I really wanted to shine a light on why gender matters and understand what’s going on in the minds of boys.”
The preliminary findings, presented by Dr Nash at a recent RoSPA conference on drowning prevention, showed that messages which have clear safety instructions as well as an intense emotional load were most likely to stick in the participants’ minds afterwards. The full findings will be published later this year.
A Drowning Prevention Research Group has now been set up at BU, bringing together colleagues with expertise in emergency life support, public health and public communication to build on the work that has already taken place.
“As a coastal university we are in a prime position to lead research into what is a major public health issue – more people drown than are killed by fires or in cycling collisions on the roads. As summer approaches we hope our work with RoSPA and local authorities will help more people enjoy the water environments in our area and around the country as safely as possible.” Dr Nash concluded.
