The four Ps of Sweden: Predicting propensity to partake in prevention against climate change : Part of a symposium on climate change and culture

• Sweden is a leading country in regards to the Environmental Performance Index. A better understanding of what has pushed Sweden in that direction and how remaining barriers can be broken is important for local and global actors. A total of 335 participants completed Collective Futures and Climate Change Project survey. Most respondents were women (63%) and university students (78%), and a large majority (93%) believed in anthropogenic climate change. In order to study the propensity to act against climate change the extent of environmental citizenship, personal environmental behavior, and the willingness to donate to an environmental organization was measured. Five step hierarchical regressions were conducted for these “propensity to act” variables. The first step included background variables such as demographics and political views, the second step beliefs about climate change, the third step views of the future in the context of climate change, the fourth step individual differences related to environmentalism (e.g., environmental identity, system justification), and the final step connectedness to nature. The results showed that all five steps added to the predictive value of the models. The overall pattern showed that beliefs about climate change, individual differences related to environmentalism and connectedness to nature significantly predicted propensity to act. In general the effects of the background variables and views about the future society were mediated by the other variables, except the willingness-to-pay variable. Beyond the overall pattern, both background variables and views about societies’ future predicted willingness to pay. In particular, being rightwing, conservative, and belief in in increased self-enhancement values in the future decreased willingness to pay. Belief in increased conservation values in the future increased willingness to pay. Importantly, these findings can be used to inform climate change policy and communication in Sweden.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Climate change

collective futures

connectedness to nature

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)