Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
7-2018
Abstract
Addressing social issues such as climate change requires significant support and engagement of citizens with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The present research examines whether individuals who vary in their socioeconomic status significantly differ in their psychological antecedents of support for pro-environmental action. Study 1, using U.S. nationally representative data, showed that personal beliefs about climate change predicted support for pro-environmental policies more strongly among individuals with a higher, relative to lower, SES background. Studies 2 and 3, by employing correlational and experimental approaches respectively, found that general sense of control over life outcomes underlies the extent to which support for pro-environmental action is contingent on personal beliefs about climate change. Study 4 identified perceived social norms about pro-environmental actions as an alternative predictor of support for pro-environmental action among people from lower SES background. Taken together, the present research shows that individuals with distinct socioeconomic backgrounds differ in their key psychological levers of pro-environmental action. To grasp how to solve urgent social issues such as climate change requires greater understanding of the psychology of citizens with diverse backgrounds
Keywords
Socioeconomic status, Control, Climate change, Pro-environmental action
Discipline
Place and Environment | Work, Economy and Organizations
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume
77
First Page
60
Last Page
75
ISSN
0022-1031
Identifier
10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03.009
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
EOM, Kimin, KIM, Heejung S., & SHERMAN, David K..(2018). Social class, control, and action: Socioeconomic status differences in antecedents of support for pro-environmental action. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 77, 60-75.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2565
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03.009