National income and environmental concern: Observations from 35 countries

National income produces mixed impacts on public environmental concern. In a cross-national survey, environmental concern was measured in terms of propensity to act and environmental risk perception. Results of a multilevel regression analysis show that these two measures respond to gross domestic p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public understanding of science (Bristol, England) England), 2016-10, Vol.25 (7), p.873-890
Main Author: Lo, Alex Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizens
Conservation of Natural Resources
Coping
Developed Countries
Developing Countries
Ecological risk assessment
Environmental attitudes
Environmental impact
Environmental perception
Environmental protection
Environmental risk
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
History of medicine and histology
Humans
Income
Industrialized nations
National income
National security
Perception
Public Opinion
Regression analysis
Risk
Risk perception
Socioeconomic Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:National income produces mixed impacts on public environmental concern. In a cross-national survey, environmental concern was measured in terms of propensity to act and environmental risk perception. Results of a multilevel regression analysis show that these two measures respond to gross domestic product per capita in opposite ways. Citizens of advanced industrial countries are more likely than those of lower-income countries to contribute to environmental protection. However, they are less likely to see the harmful impacts on the environment as very dangerous. Using an indicator of national adaptive capacity, this article demonstrates that environmental risk perception is a function of a country’s estimated capacity for coping with condition changes. The stronger sense of collective security among citizens of wealthier nations offers a possible explanation for the negative effects of national income. These results indicate the complex relationship between development and public environmental concern across countries.
ISSN:0963-6625
1361-6609
DOI:10.1177/0963662515581302