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Environment and Behavior, Vol. 38, No. 6,
768-790 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0013916506287388
General Beliefs and Environmental Concern
Transatlantic Comparisons
Anna Olofsson
Department of Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Sweden
Susanna Öhman
Department of Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Sweden
The aim of the study was to empirically test whether grouping people according to their general beliefs, combined with positional factors, can explain environmental concern, and whether there are country differences in this respect. The study is based on the United States, Canadian, Norwegian, and Swedish parts of The International Social Survey Program (ISSP) survey 2000 on environmental concern. The four countries were paired resulting in a comparison between North America and Scandinavia. The results showed that general beliefs, together with education and political affiliation, were the most stable predictors of environmental concern, and that adding general beliefs to the analysis improves the explanatory power in a significant way.
Key Words: general beliefs • environmental concern • national comparisons
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