Changes in environmental worldviews among Chinese urban residents during economic growth and accelerating polluting in the 2000s

Abstract

During the first decade of the 2000s, China experienced tremendous growth in the economy and environmental degradation. This study examines whether there has been a subsequent increase in pro-environmental worldviews among urban Chinese people over that period since theories predict that both greater affluence and exposure to pollution can promote such views. We find that from 2003 to 2010, Chinese urban citizens’ pro-environmental worldviews measured by the New Environmental/Ecological Paradigm (NEP) did not increase as would be predicted by multiple theories, indicating that environmental concern is more complex and multi-faceted. Instead, we find some evidence for a diffusion process of environmental concern from more educated people to the rest of the population. We also argue that the impact of different facets of socioeconomic status on environmental concern matter as we find that education increases pro-environmental worldviews more than income.