The Roles of Attitudinal and Personality Variables in the Prediction of Environmental Behavior and Knowledge

The success of environmental policies and action programs may well depend upon an understanding of the impact of intraindividual variables on responses to environmental problems. A survey designed to assess environmental behavior, attitudes, and knowledge, as well as several personality dimensions, was administered to two diverse samples: 85 users of a recycling center and 60 conservative church members. The two samples differed systematically as predicted on behavior, attitude, knowledge, and personality characteristics. Stepwise multiple regression analyses (with a third sample of 69 students added) revealed that education, knowledge, and environmentally related attitudes best predicted recycling behavior, while exposure to information through books, personality, and attitudes best predicted environmental knowledge. Implications are drawn for environmental action programs.

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