Testing the Cross-National Social Bases of EnvironmentalismA Current and Comparative Analysis of Conservation Behaviors

  1. Pisano, Ignacio 1
  2. Hidalgo, Maria del Carmem 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Málaga
    info

    Universidad de Málaga

    Málaga, España

    ROR https://ror.org/036b2ww28

Journal:
Psico

ISSN: 0103-5371

Year of publication: 2014

Issue Title: Dossiê: Psicologia Ambiental

Volume: 45

Issue: 3

Pages: 395-405

Type: Article

DOI: 10.15448/1980-8623.2014.3.17233 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Psico

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in cross-national comparative studies, few of them have focused specifically on analyzing the social bases of pro-environmental behaviors. This article explores socio-demographic differences in private and public environmental behaviors (PrEB and PuEB) across 30 countries. Structural Equation Modeling and multilevel analysis were applied to the 2010 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) database. The analyses showed reliable positive relationships across-nations on both behaviors only for education. Age had the same consistent effect as education for PrEB. This pattern was also positive but less strong for gender on PrEB and for income on PuEB. Size of hometown and income had diffuse or mixed effects for PrEB, as did gender, age and size of hometown for PuEB. Nevertheless, those relationships were modified when controlling for the effect of attitudinal variables on behaviors. Additionally, the socio-demographic determinants of both behaviors varied in predictive power across nations (R2 from 0.2 to 16). Multilevel interactions showed that the differences for gender on PrEB and for education on PuEB were stronger in more developed countries. Therefore, the social bases varied according to the type of behavior analyzed, the degree of cross-national consistency, predictive power and the level of development of the country.

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