Does belief matter in climate change action?

Public Understanding of Science

Volumn 22, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 382-395

  Vainio, Annukka ^a   Paloniemi, Riikka ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI   (Finland)

^b FINNISH ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE   (Finland)

Author keywords

belief; climate change; environmental action; Finland; knowledge; post materialism; trust

Indexed keywords

EID: 84876714829     PISSN: 09636625     EISSN: 13616609     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0963662511410268     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Antilla L.Climate of scepticism: US newspaper coverage of the science of climate change.Global Environmental Change. 2005;15:338-352.
2. Barr S.Strategies for sustainability: Citizens and responsible environmental behaviour.Area. 2003;35:227-240.
3. Bentler PM,Bonett DG.Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures.Psychological Bulletin. 1980;88:588-606.
4. Bibbings JClimate Concern: Attitudes to Climate Change and Windfarms in Wales. Cardiff: Welsh Consumer Council and Friends of the Earth Cymru; 2004:.
5. Bickerstaff K,Simmons P,Pidgeon NNorwich: University of East Anglia; 2004:.
6. Blennow K,Persson J.Climate change: Motivation for taking measures to adapt.Global Environmental Change. 2009;19:100-104.
7. Boykoff MT,Boykoff JM.Balance as bias: Global warming and the US prestige press.Global Environmental Change. 2004;14:125-136.
8. Brechin SR,Kempton W.Global environmentalism: A challenge to the postmaterialism thesis?.Social Science Quarterly. 1994;75:245-269.
9. Browne MW,Cudeck RTesting Structural Equation Models. Bollen KALong JS, ed. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE; 1993:136-162.
10. Buckeley H.Common knowledge? Public understanding of climate change in Newcastle, Australia.Public Understanding of Science. 2000;9:313-333.
11. Carmines EG,McIver JPSocial Measurement: Current Issues. Bohrnstedt GWBorgatta EF, ed. Beverly Hills: SAGE; 1981:65-115.
12. Carvalho A.Ideological cultures and media discourses on scientific knowledge: Re-reading news on climate change.Public Understanding of Science. 2007;16:223-243.
13. Chapura M.Scale, causality, complexity and emergence: Rethinking scale's ontological significance.Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 2009;34:462-474.
14. Clayton S,Myers GConservation Psychology: Understanding and Promoting Human Care for Nature. Oxford: Blackwell; 2009:.
15. Dalton RJ.The social transformation of trust in government.International Review of Sociology. 2005;15:133-154.
16. Dietz T,Dan A,Shwom R.Support for climate change policy: Social psychological and social structural influences.Rural Sociology. 2007;72:185-214.
17. Dunlap RE,Gallup GH,Gallup AM.Of global concern: Results of the Health of the Planet survey.Environment. 1993;35:7 33-15 39.
18. Etkin D,Ho E.Climate change: Perceptions and discourses of risk.Journal of Risk Research. 2007;5:623-641.
19. Evans G,Durant J.The relationship between knowledge and attitudes in the public understanding of science in Britain.Public Understanding of Science. 1995;4:57-74.
20. Feygina I,Jost JT,Goldsmith RE.System justification, the denial of global warming, and the possibility of "system-sanctioned change.".Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2010;36:326-338.
21. Finkel SE,Muller EN,Opp KD.Personal influence, collective rationality, and mass political action.American Political Science Review. 1989;83:885-903.
22. Eurobarometer 69.2: National and European Identity, European Elections, European Values, and Climate Change. The European Commission, Directorate General Press and Communication, Opinion Polls; 2009:.
23. Gifford R,Iglesias F,Casler J.Psychological barriers to pro-environmental behavior: The development of a scale. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association; 2008Montreal; 2008.
24. Gökşen F,Adaman F,Zenginobuz U.On environmental concern, willingness to pay, and postmaterialist values: Evidence from Istanbul.Environment and Behavior. 2002;5:460-477.
25. Gudmundsdottir S.Values in pedagogical content knowledge.Journal of Teacher Education. 1990;41:44-52.
26. Haikkola L,Rissotto A.Legislation, policy and participatory structures as opportunities for children's participation? A comparison of Finland and Italy.Children, Youth and Environments. 2007;17:352-387.
27. Heath Y,Gifford R.Free-market ideology and environmental degradation: The case of belief in global climate change.Environment and Behaviour. 2006;38:48-71.
28. Höijer B.Emotional anchoring and objectification in the media reporting on climate change.Public Understanding of Science. 2010;9:717-731.
29. Inglehart R.The silent revolution in post-industrial societies.American Political Science Review. 1971;65:991-1017.
30. Inglehart RThe Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles among Western Publics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1977:.
31. Inglehart R.Public support for environmental protection: Objective problems and subjective values in 43 societies.Political Science and Politics. 1995;28:57-72.
32. Inglehart RModernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1997:.
33. IPCC (2007) IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. Available at (accessed 6 February 2011): http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml#1.
34. Jensen BB.Knowledge, action and pro-environmental behaviour.Environmental Education Research. 2002;8:325-334.
35. Jensen BB,Schnack K.The action competence approach in environmental education.Environmental Education Research. 2006;12:471-486.
36. Jost J,Banaji M.The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness.British Journal of Social Psychology. 1994;33:293-305.
37. Jost J,Pelham B,Carvallo M.Non-conscious forms of system justification: Implicit and behavioral preferences for higher status groups.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2002;38:586-602.
38. Kaase M.Interpersonal trust, political trust and non-institutionalized political participation in Western Europe.West European Politics. 1999;22:1-21.
39. Kellstedt PM,Zahran S,Vedlitz A.Personal efficacy, the information environment, and attitudes toward global warming and climate change in the United States.Risk Analysis. 2008;28:113-125.
40. Koskinen S,Paloniemi RHandbook of Environmental Policy. Meijer Jder Berg A, ed. New York: Nova Publishers; 2009:293-308.
41. Lorenzoni I,Hulme M.Believing is seeing: Laypeople's views of future socioeconomic and climate change in England and in Italy.Public Understanding of Science. 2009;18:383-400.
42. Lorenzoni I,Pidgeon NF.Public views on climate change: European and USA perspectives.Climatic Change. 2006;77:73-95.
43. Lubell M,Vedlitz A,Zahran S,Alston LT.Collective action, environmental activism, and air quality policy.Political Research Quarterly. 2006;59:149-160.
44. McDonald RP,Marsh HW.Choosing a multivariate model: Noncentrality and goodness of fit.Psychological Bulletin. 1990;107:247-255.
45. Mohai P.Public concern and elite involvement in environmental conservation issues.Social Science Quarterly. 1985;62:820-838.
46. Nordlund AM,Garvill J.Value structures behind proenvironmental behavior.Environment and Behavior. 2002;34:740-756.
47. Paloniemi R,Vainio A.Why do young people participate in environmental action?.Environmental Values. 2011;20:397-416.
48. Pharr SJ,Putnam RD,Dalton RJ.A quarter-century of declining confidence.Journal of Democracy. 2000;11:5-25.
49. Pitesky ME,Stackhouse KR,Mitloehner FM.Clearing the air: Livestock's contribution to climate change.Advances in Agronomy. 2009;103:1-40.
50. Poortinga W,Pidgeon N.Exploring the dimensionality of trust in risk regulation.Risk Analysis. 2003;23:961-971.
51. Poortinga W,Pidgeon NF,Lorenzoni INorwich: University of East Anglia; 2006:.
52. Putnam RDBowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster; 2000:.
53. Robinson SL.Trust and breach of the psychological contract.Administrative Science Quarterly. 1996;41:574-599.
54. Spaargaren G,Mol APJ.Greening global consumption: Redefining politics and authority.Global Environmental Change. 2008;18:350-359.
55. Stamm KR,Clark F,Eblacas PR.Mass communication and public understanding of environmental problems: The case of global warming.Public Understanding of Science. 2000;9:219-237.
56. Steg L,Vlek C.Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: An integrative review and research agenda.Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2009;29:309-317.
57. Stern NThe Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2007:.
58. Strandbu Å,Skogen K.Environmentalism among Norwegian youth: Different paths to attitudes and action?.Journal of Youth Studies. 2000;3:189-209.
59. Sundblad E-L,Biel A,Gärling T.Cognitive and affective risk judgments related to climate change.Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2007;27:97-106.
60. SwimJClaytonSDohertyTGiffordRHowardGReserJSternPWeberP (2009) Psychology and Global Climate Change: Addressing a Multi-Faceted Phenomenon and Set of Challenges. A Report by the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Interface between Psychology and Global Climate Change. Available at (accessed 28 November 2010): http://www.apa.org/science/about/publications/climate-change.pdf.
61. Tyler TRTrust and Governance. Braithwaite VLevi M, ed. New York: Russell Sage; 2003:269-294.
62. Weingart P,Engels A,Pansegrau P.Risks of communication: Discourses on climate change in science, politics, and the mass media.Public Understanding of Science. 2000;9:261-283.
63. Whitmarsh L.What's in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of "climate change" and "global warming.".Public Understanding of Science. 2009;18:401-420.
64. Yaneva A.Scaling up and scaling down: Extraction trials in architectural design.Social Studies of Science. 2005;35:867-894.
65. York R,Gossard MH.Cross-national meat and fish consumption: Exploring the effects of modernization and ecological context.Ecological Economics. 2004;48:293-302.
66. Perception and Evaluation of Risks: Findings of the Baden-Württemberg Risk Survey 2001. Zwick MMRenn O, ed. Germany: Joint working report by the Center of Technology Assessment in Baden-Württemberg and the University of Stuttgart, Sociology of Technologies and Environment; 2002:.