Why do people vary so much in their environmental attitudes?
Monday, February 1st, 2010
New research by Jacob Hirsh in a forthcoming article in Environmental Psychology1 suggests that your personality may hold a big clue:
Excerpts (citations omitted):
…[E]nvironmentalism has been examined from the perspective of the “Big
Five” taxonomy of personality traits, which describes variation in human personality across the five broad dimensions of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. These broad trait dimensions can be used to predict more specific attitudes and value orientations. Two of these traits, Agreeableness and Openness, have emerged as significant predictors of pro-environmental values. These findings are consistent with theoretical models that relate pro-environmental attitudes to higher levels of empathy and self-transcendence, which appear to be related to Agreeableness and Openness, respectively. Individuals who are more empathic and less self-focused appear more likely to develop a personal connection with nature, which in turn predicts their pro-environmental attitudes. Indeed, developing such an emotional affinity toward the natural environment can bolster one’s motives for environmental protection.
Hirsh tested this idea with a much larger sample of people than studied previously—about 3,000 German adults. Bottom line: These predictions were confirmed: If you are an agreeable person open to new experiences, you are more likely to be concerned about the environment. There was an unexpected twist that neurotic and conscientious people also showed a slight tendency towards environmental concern as well.
What’s more agreeable than German guys dancing in Lederhosen?
1Hirsh, J.B. Personality and Environmental Concern, Journal of Environmental Psychology (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.004
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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phineasx/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
One Response to “Why do people vary so much in their environmental attitudes?”
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That’s really interesting. I wonder what a more international sample of people would show because cultural factors might come into play. I’d be interested in seeing what the analysis would be in countries like China and the United States.
Thanks, I’ll have to find this article and read it!
PS. your comment box extends too far to the right and is blocked out by the sidebar so i can’t see some of the words I’m typing.