Cultural worldviews and environmental risk perceptions: A meta-analysis

Abstract

This study examined the magnitude of the associations between four worldview dimensions based on Douglas and Wildavsky's (1982) cultural theory of risk (egalitarianism, individualism, hierarchism and fatalism) and environmental risk perceptions. A meta-analysis of 67 effect sizes from a pooled sample of 15,660 respondents revealed that individuals who scored higher on egalitarianism perceived more environmental risks (r = .25), whereas individuals who scored higher on hierarchism and individualism perceived fewer environmental risks (r = −.18 and −.17, respectively). Fatalism and environmental risk perceptions were not significantly related (r = .03). Moderator analyses using an expanded set of 129 effect sizes found that effect sizes varied significantly as a function of hazard type, worldview measure, and study location. Our results are broadly consistent with cultural theory's claim that cultural worldviews are potentially important determinants of environmental risk perceptions, although the magnitudes of these effects appear to be quite modest.