Values, Environmental Concern, and Environmental Behavior: A Study into Household Energy Use
Year: 2004
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In this study, the role of values in the field of household energy use is investigated by using the concept of quality of life (QOL). Importance judgments on 22 QOL aspects could be summarized into seven clearly interpretable value dimensions. The seven value dimensions and general and specific environmental concern contributed significantly to the explanation of policy support for government regulation and for market strategies aimed at managing environmental problems as well as to the explanation of the acceptability of specific home and transport energy-saving measures. In line with earlier research, home and transport energy use were especially related to sociodemographic variables like income and household size. These results show that it is relevant to distinguish between different measures of environmental impact and different types of environmental intent. Moreover, the results suggest that using only attitudinal variables, such as values, may be too limited to explain all types of environmental behavior.
Source: Environment and Behavior
Authors: Wouter Poortinga, Linda Steg, Charles Vlek
Institutions: University of East Anglia, University of Groningen
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Leverhulme Trust
OpenAlex ID: W2156383633