Exploring the Socio-Psychological Drivers of Climate Adaptation Among Rural Women in Uttarakhand: A TPB Framework Approach

Simran Pundir¹Rabindra Nath Padaria^1*Aiswarya S^2*Rashmi Singh¹Girijesh Mahra¹S R Bishnoi¹Bhaskar Ghosh¹Md. Yeasin¹Praveen KV¹Shantanu Rakshit^1,3Priti Priyadarshani⁴Sudip Kumar Gorai¹Preeti Yadav¹Sweety Mukherjee¹Kotha Shravani Reddy¹Amandeep Ranjana¹Nushrat Jahan¹Suresh Kumar Bishnoi¹

• ¹Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India
• ²Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (ICAR), Hisar, Haryana, India
• ³National Research Centre on Camel (ICAR), Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
• ⁴Directorate of Extension Education, Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India

Women in Uttarakhand are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to limited access to resources, land ownership, and decision-making power. These vulnerabilities are further intensified by the region's mountainous landscape, which is highly susceptible to climatic disturbances such as erratic rainfall, temperature fluctuations, and landslides. As key contributors to household welfare and agricultural activities, rural women's adaptive behaviors play a critical role in mitigating climate-related risks and fostering community resilience. This paper investigates climate change adaptation behaviors among rural women in Uttarakhand, India, within the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A multistage sampling approach was employed, with purposive selection of two districts-Tehri Garhwal and Rudraprayag-identified as highly vulnerable to climate change. The study examines the relationships between perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes by employing Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), exploring their influence on women's intention to adopt adaptation strategies. The findings indicate that perceived behavioural control (PBC), risk perception (RP), and social norms (SN) significantly influence behavioural intention (BI) and adaptation behaviour (AB). The analysis revealed that RP and PBC are major predictors of behavioural intention to adopt climate adaptation practices, with significant impacts from social norms and self-efficacy beliefs. The results emphasize the critical role of social and psychological factors in shaping the climate adaptation decisions of rural women, highlighting the need for gender-sensitive interventions that foster empowerment and access to resources. The study also demonstrates the effectiveness of the TPB framework in understanding rural women's adaptation behaviours in Uttarakhand and suggests that enhancing women's control over resources and fostering supportive social norms can significantly improve their climate resilience. Future research should explore the application of TPB in broader rural contexts, with particular emphasis on empowering women through policy support, education, and community engagement to promote sustainable adaptation strategies in climate-vulnerable regions.