Concern for the Environment Among General Publics: A Cross-National Study

Abstract

Concern for the environment has been noted in recent decades as a global phenomenon that is present among general publics in regions around the world. Though a topic of emerging interest, at present, assessments of environmental concern cross-nationally do not provide definitive evidence as to whether similar levels of environmental concern are identifiable across mass publics and whether its underpinnings are similar across national contexts. This research compares concern for the environment across 15 countries, examining the role of measurement cross-nationally. I demonstrate that different rankings of general publics can be distinguished with regard to different measures of environmental concern. I also examine demographic factors typically associated with the expression of environmental concern to determine their cross-national comparability. Results demonstrate that the measurement of environmental concern matters, both in terms of describing its composition in different countries and in identifying its underpinnings in this sample of countries.