Studies of Individual Environmental Concern: The Role of Knowledge, Gender, and Background Variables

Abstract

The article deals with analyses concerning the interplay of environmentally relevant knowledge, attitudes, and behavior as well as gender differences in environmental concern and the role of "background variables" for the prediction of (self-reported) behavior. In a sample of 167 German adults, the results showed that knowledge and gender moderated the relationship between attitudes and behavior. For a second sample of 105 people active in conservation groups, these moderator effects were not as clear. For both samples, women were more environmentally concerned in those topical areas that refer to household behavior, whereas men knew more about environmental problems. Possible reasons for these effects are discussed. Finally, the role of "background variables" is investigated by means of stepwise regression and discriminant analyses, using self-reported behavior as the central dependent variable. For the purpose of this study, a new measurement instrument was constructed and validated. Compared with other scales, a new aspect is the substantially broader spectrum covered. Moreover, various topical areas of environmental concern (e.g., residential energy conservation, environmentally aware purchasing, recycling of solid wastes, and so forth) can be measured simultaneously with the well-established conceptual variables (knowledge, attitude, behavior).