The Relationship Among Environmental Concern, Perceived Positive Behaviors, and Environmentally Responsible Actions

Abstract

Global warming mitigation strategies have historically focused on political, educational, and industrial impacts. Individuals' perceptions and attitudes surrounding global warming and their individual approaches to environmentally responsible actions (ERA) are the new focus of the climate change movement. Eco-activism, which is fully supported by the United Nations campaigns in sustainability, emphasizes individual’s purchasing power and choices. This purchasing power is influenced by individual’s concerns for the environment and their perceived environmental behaviors. I explored the extent to which environmental concern (EC) and perceived positive environmental behaviors (EB) are associated with ERA, and whether education and urbanicity moderate these relationships in a pooled, cross-national sample. To do so, I analyze data from the ISSP 2010 Environmental survey data set (N=38,693), which includes adults in 36 counties. Results of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses indicate that EC, EB, education, and urbanicity are associated with ERA. Furthermore, statistically significant interaction terms suggest that individuals who live in rural areas and have higher education report higher levels of environmental responsible actions.