Environmental Risk Perception Research Articles

The Impact of the Gain-Loss Frame on College Students' Willingness to Participate in the Individual Low-Carbon Behavior Rewarding System (ILBRS): The Mediating Role of Environmental Risk Perception.

Since Chinese households account for more than half of the country’s total carbon emissions, efforts focused on consumption will be key to reaching carbon reduction targets. The Individual Low-carbon Behavior Rewarding System (ILBRS) is an emerging mechanism in China that encourages the public to develop a low-carbon lifestyle and it is critical to look for various approaches to enhance the public’s willingness to participate in it. The framing effect has been widely used to study pro-environmental behavior as a low-cost nudge. We used an online questionnaire (N = 320) to investigate how framing information (loss and gain framing) influenced people’s willingness to participate in the ILBRS through the mediation of environmental risk perception. The results indicated that the public’s willingness to participate in the ILBRS under the loss frame was significantly higher than the gain frame. Furthermore, environmental risk perception played a mediating role in the proceedings. Based on our findings, the designers and promoters of ILBRS systems could employ loss-frame information to promote the public’s willingness to participate in the ILBRS and drive more people to live a low-carbon life in the process of mechanism construction, information communication, and operational promotion.

Public Perceptions on Human Health Risks of Climate Change in Cyprus: 2018 and 2021 Survey Results

Understanding public perceptions on the health impacts of climate change will help to better address planetary health challenges. This study aimed to assess differences in perceptions in the Cypriot population regarding climate-related health risks, information sources used, and self-assessed health status over a three-year period, along with the relationship between sociodemographics and perceptions on climate-related health risks. Two cross-sectional surveys on environmental health risks and climate change, information sources, and self-assessed health were conducted in July–December 2018 (n = 185) and August–September 2021 (n = 202) among adults living in Cyprus. A descriptive analysis of the survey responses was conducted. Between-survey and within-survey associations were examined among environmental and health risk perceptions and stratified by sociodemographics (age, sex, educational level) using chi-square tests. The perceived views on most questions about environmental health risks and climate change were not different between the two surveys (p > 0.05). With environmental factors in mind, such as climate change, pollution, and toxic waste, most respondents (>72%) considered that health issues such as asthma, cancer, obesity, type II diabetes, and high blood pressure would occur much more often or somewhat more often in the next 10 years. In both surveys, the most popular sources of information about environmental health risks were social media/the internet, followed by TV news and TV films and documentaries. Notable differences in several perceptions on climate-related health risks were observed between females and males, while age and educational level did not influence most perceptions. Women were more likely than men to report that environmental factors such as temperature rise, extreme weather events, and air pollution will be extremely influenced by climate change (p < 0.05). The study survey populations recognized the important linkages between climate change and human health, including their drivers. Sex was an important factor for differentiated perceptions on environmental health risks and climate change. Such survey results on perceptions about climate change and their impact on population health can be used to inform public awareness and risk communication campaigns.

The Influence of Sociodemographic Factors, Lifestyle, and Risk Perception on Dietary Patterns in Pregnant Women Living in Highly Contaminated Areas: Data from the NEHO Birth Cohort

During pregnancy, maternal nutrition and lifestyle play a critical role in influencing fetal development and newborn health outcomes. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the adherence to dietary patterns in pregnant women living in highly contaminated areas, and whether women with higher environmental risk perception manifest different nutritional behaviors during pregnancy. Food consumption data on 816 pregnant women from the Neonatal Environment and Health Outcomes (NEHO) residential birth cohort were analyzed. Dietary patterns were computed by principal component analysis. A multinomial logistic regression was also applied to identify sociodemographic, lifestyle, and pregnancy-related determinants of adherence to dietary patterns during pregnancy. Three patterns of food consumption—explaining 24.9% of the total variance—were identified as “prudent”, “high energy”, and “vegetarian” patterns. Results suggest that food choices during pregnancy follow a social gradient and align with other health behaviors during pregnancy: older, better educated, and physically active women with higher risk perception are more likely to follow healthier dietary patterns. Knowledge about what is eaten can contribute to dietary choices. Interventions to improve the prenatal nutrition knowledge of pregnant women are needed, especially concerning younger mothers and those with lower educational levels.

Personal attributes and (mis)perceptions of local environmental risk

AbstractIndividuals' risk perceptions shape their attitudes and behaviors, and to the extent that governments respond to public demands, they also influence public policy priorities. Conversely, risk misperceptions—that is, when risk perceptions do not align with realities—may lead to suboptimal behaviors and inefficient public policy. This study investigates the phenomena of environmental risk misperceptions. Specifically, with an original survey that enables a direct comparison of perceived and actual environmental risks at the local level, it examines the relationships between personal attributes and risk misperceptions. The findings show that individuals exhibit optimism bias in assessing local environmental risk. On average, people rank their communities as experiencing less risk from toxic air pollution than objective measures suggest. Moreover, Whites, males, conservatives, and older people tend to have larger optimism bias and have lower chances of possessing correct risk perceptions than their counterparts, respectively, while respondents who are married, poor, who go to church regularly, and have strong pro‐environmental orientation, tend to have smaller optimism bias and have higher chances of possessing correct risk perceptions than their respective counterparts. The systematic misperception of local environmental risk underscores the importance of information provision and risk communication, and the sociopolitical correlates of misperception suggest that targeted and more nuanced strategies are required to correct misperceptions.

Perception of Risks from Wood Combustion and Traffic Induced Air Pollution: Evidence from Northern Europe

The health effects of particulate matter, increasing emissions from transportation and requisites for making use of biofuels brings up the need to understand how individuals interpret air-pollution-related risks from wood burning and traffic. We aim to clarify the extent to which perceived risks from road-traffic and wood-smoke can be explained by the individual psychological, social status-related and socio-institutional factors in the case of two Northern European countries, Finland and Estonia. This approach elucidates which of the closely intertwined factors shape the perception of risks from air pollution in different socio-institutional contexts and for different air pollution sources. The study uses data from cross-sectional population surveys conducted among 1112 Finnish and 1000 Estonian residents about environmental health risk perception and coping. Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that in both countries’ cases, the perceived personal and general risk from traffic exhaust and wood-smoke can be explained by the perception of exposure to pollution and, also, by the level of knowledge of, the worry about and the possible symptoms from environmental health factors. The perceived vulnerability due to poor health further sensitises individuals towards risks from air pollution. Higher trust towards state institutions in guaranteeing a healthy living environment and greater perceived openness about the risks may attenuate the feelings of vulnerability to air pollution risks in Finland compared to Estonia. The ingrained appeal for wood burning may explain the higher acceptance of exhausts from wood-burning compared to traffic. This may lead to scant support for measures to reduce emissions from wood combustion.

탄소배출 언론보도가 친환경 관광행동의도에 미치는 영향

Because the tourism industry accounts for approximately 10% of total carbon emissions and carbon is also emitted by tourists, it is critical to understand the intention of eco-friendly tourism behavior in order to solve the fundamental problem. As a result, the purpose of this study was to confirm the effect of carbon-emitting media reporting on eco-friendly tourism behavioral intentions. The survey was conducted online from June 5 to June 8, 2021, on 254 potential tourists who are willing to travel within the next year after receiving carbon-emitting media reports. Carbon-emitting media reports had a significant effect on social, environmental, physical, and economic risk perception, and social, environmental, and physical risk perception had a significant positive (+) effect on attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control, according to the study. This can be interpreted to mean that respondents were aware of the social, environmental, and physical risks posed by carbon emissions, but did not recognize them to the extent that they were economically vulnerable. Furthermore, the study discovered that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control all had a significant impact on eco-friendly tourism behavioral intention.

Residents' waste mobile recycling planned behavior model: the role of environmental concern and risk perception

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate the relationships of environmental concern and risk perception with residents' waste mobile recycling behavior in the scenario of continuously increasing electronic waste (aka e-waste) around the world.Design/methodology/approachFor empirically testing proposed research model, this study utilized convenience sampling strategy and collected 346 responses from residents in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) through an online survey. The hypotheses were tested utilizing the structural equation modeling (SEM) framework through Mplus 7.0 program (Muthen and Muthen, 1998–2012). Robust maximum likelihood (MLR) was used as the method of estimation.FindingsThe results revealed that environmental concern is positively associated with individuals' intentions to recycle waste mobile phones and that the relationship between concern for the environment and individuals' intention to recycle is mediated by the factors such as individuals' mobile phone recycling attitude and subjective norms. The results further indicated that individuals' information security risk perception moderates the relationship between individuals' intention for recycling and subsequent recycling behavior.Originality/valueThis study provides substantial theoretical and practical implications for residents' e-waste recycling behavior while considering their environmental concern and information security risk perceptions.

Effects of Residential Environmental Screening and Perception Surveys on Superfund Environmental Health Risk Perceptions.

Residents at one of the nation’s largest and longest-operating Superfund sites (Butte, Montana) have expressed environmental health risk perceptions that often diverge from those of EPA and other official stakeholders responsible for the investigation and remediation of site contamination aimed at protecting human health and the environment. A random sample of Butte residents participated in a study of how home-based environmental screening influences environmental health perceptions. Participants completed surveys measuring environmental health perceptions before and after a home site screening of soil and drinking water for lead and arsenic conducted by the research team. Local air monitoring for the same contaminants was also completed during the study period. The home-based screening intervention improved the alignment of subjective participant environmental health perceptions with objective environmental screening measures. Key features of the process that helped achieve this effect included (1) co-locating the collection of participant perceptions and individualized screening measurements; (2) sharing environmental screening results in a clear and unbiased manner; and (3) conducting this work independent of agencies and organizations with direct responsibility for Superfund-related cleanup activities. Empowering residents of a Superfund community with knowledge of the specific kinds and levels of environmental contamination in their home environment may help overcome the gap between agency conclusions regarding environmental health risk and the perceptions of community members.

Risk Perceptions of Environmental and Health Problems Associated with Artisanal Crude Oil Refining in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

When crude oil is artisanally refined, it releases compounds that contribute to environmental pollution and health problems. The perceptions regarding these problems could be instrumental in tackling the involvement in these illicit activities. This study thus assessed the perception of the environmental and health risks associated with artisanal refining of petroleum products in communities in Bayelsa State.
 The study was conducted among 615 adult residents of 3 selected communities in Bayelsa State. Multistage sampling was applied in selecting the respondents who provided responses to the administered questionnaires. Necessary ethical considerations were made during the conduct of this study.
 Results from the study indicate that respondents had good perception regarding the possibility that environmental and health risks could occur as a result of crude oil artisanal refining activities (Criterion mean: 2.5 (62.5%); Grand mean [environmental risks]: 3.25 [81.15%]; Grand mean [health risks]: 3.13 [78.32%]) respectively.
 The study found that the communities have good perceptions of environmental and health risks associated with the artisanal refining of crude oil in Bayelsa State. There is therefore need for sustained health education to maintain good perceptions of the health and environmental risks associated with petroleum-related artisanal refining.

Household chemicals and pre-schoolers: Caretakers’ beliefs and perspectives on risks and responsibilities

Chemical products are present in most households and can endanger the health of humans, particularly toddlers and pre-school children. With a focus on accident prevention, this article investigates parents and other caretakers’ beliefs and perspectives on risks and responsibilities. A mixed method approach was applied, combining in-depth qualitative interviews (pre-study, N = 10) and a quantitative survey (main study, N = 688) with Swiss caretakers of pre-school children. The questionnaire of the main study was developed based on the findings from the pre-study, and measured beliefs, perceptions of product, environmental risks, and responsibilities. The main findings suggest some prevalent misconceptions among parents regarding the risks of products perceived to be natural and the safety of child-protective caps. Furthermore, relationships were uncovered between psychological factors, such as perceived responsibility, trust and risk perception, and caretakers’ beliefs about household chemicals and their role in accident prevention. These beliefs highlight the need for preventive efforts focused on caretakers exhibiting pragmatic/trusting beliefs, compared to caretakers exhibiting protective or educational beliefs.

A Research on the Environmental Identities and Environmental Risk Perceptions of Classroom and Science Teachers According to Different Variables

Environmental identity in human environmental behaviour expresses the extent to which the person relates to the environment while defining himself or herself. The relationship between human and the environment is mutual, and human's understanding of environment is essential to the environment. Perception of environmental risk is subjective because it is about personal view of environmental risk. The purpose of this study is to evaluate classroom teachers' and science teachers' perceptions of environmental risks based on several variables. For this purpose, a total of 309 classroom and science teachers participated in the study. The instruments used for data collection were the Environmental Identity Scale and the Environmental Risk Perception Scale. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted on the data obtained. The analyses conducted revealed that environmental identity and environmental risk perception were high among teachers, there were no differences between subjects, and there was a positive relationship between environmental identity and environmental risk perception.

Charging plastic bags: Perceptions from Japan

Mandatory charges for plastic bags at all stores was implemented in Japan in July 2020 to encourage interest in environmental issues and raise awareness of environmental risks. We conducted a survey on mandatory plastic bag charging, dealing with environmental risk perception, pro-environmental habits, attempts to reduce plastic bags, and sense of community. In this study, we assumed that factors distinguished by the behavior change after charging, that is, reduced use of plastic shopping bags or no change from before, and the relationship with other typical environmental behaviors and perceptions would suggest its long-term success. Data were collected from two groups: Group 1 consisted of those who had reduced their use of plastic bags after the implementation of the mandate, and Group 2 were those who had not changed their behavior because of the mandate. First, we extracted factors to distinguish Group 1 from Group 2 using binary regression analysis. Second, we illustrated the relationship between the attempt to reduce plastic bags and other typical environmental behaviors and perceptions by conducting structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that age, place of residence, observing others’ behavior, attempts to use eco-friendly bags, and energy-saving behavior were significant influential factors in reducing plastic bags. Moreover, SEM showed that it was not significantly related to pro-environmental habits but would significantly influence environmental risk perception and recycling behavior. Therefore, it is suggested that mandatory charging can raise interest in environmental issues to foster further environmental behavior, while a detailed outreach strategy considering influential factors such as age, place of residence, individual pro-environmental habits, and so on would be necessary to successfully implement this strategy.

The role of climate finance beyond renewables: Behavioural insights

AbstractThe paper contributes towards filling a ‘blind spot’ in the field of climate finance by investigating the role of climate finance for behavioural insights in developing countries. The evidence review synthesises 71 high‐quality studies and focuses on clean fuel adoption and household energy‐saving behaviour in developing countries. The synthesis finds that there is a need for climate finance from developed countries that is more targeted towards interventions and measures that support household decision‐making in developing countries by engaging with stakeholders that understand local attitudes, constraints and knowledge levels governing the perception of health and environmental risks associated with energy‐consuming technologies.

Spatial Dependencies and the Relationship between Subjective Perception and Objective Environmental Risks in Lithuania

The effects of objective environmental indicators on subjective risk perceptions are under-researched and bring new frontiers to environmental risk perception research. The aim of this article is to analyze the spatial distribution of environmental risks in Lithuania, to identify social-psychological factors that determine variances of risk perception, and to contrast perception data with objective environmental data. This article is based on the representative national survey of 2007 respondents conducted from September to October of 2020 in Lithuania, and on the objective indicators of flood risk, air quality, water pollution, and forest fires. Analytical methods used in this article include spatial autocorrelation as well as spatial and linear regressions. Spatial analysis of objective environmental risk indicators reveal that the five biggest cities in Lithuania experience higher levels of environmental risks. Flood risk perceptions are spatially related to objective flood risks, and the relation is not significant for other types of risks. Place of residence, gender, education, and income are significant factors explaining risk perceptions. Place of residence is negatively moderating the effect of objective environmental risks on perceptions, as people in the biggest cities underestimate risks, especially from air pollution.

Perception of Occupational and Environmental Risks and Hazards among Mineworkers: A Psychometric Paradigm Approach

This study aims to assess workers’ perception of occupational and environmental risks and hazards using the psychometric paradigm. For this purpose, data were collected using survey questionnaires from 360 mineworkers recruited from mineral and sand mines. Respondents were asked to evaluate eight occupational and environmental risks and hazards on nine commonly used risk characteristics. The principal component analysis revealed that two components, “Dreaded” and “Unknown”, explained 73% percent of the total variance in workers’ risk perception. The results also showed that the risk of developing an occupational disease was perceived as the most dreaded and unknown type of risk, while landslide, occupational noise, and vibration exposure were the least familiar to the respondents. A practical implication of this research is that the results may offer an insight into the employees’ perceptions of the hazards and risks associated with their working environment. This could help risk management develop and implement effective risk management and communications strategies.

A hybrid choice modelling approach to estimate the trade-off between perceived environmental risks and economic benefits

Hazardous facilities raise issues of public acceptance, largely driven by citizens' beliefs, which should be thoroughly understood to inform assessment of welfare changes and possible compensation measures for local populations impacted by their presence. Modelling the socio-psychological drivers of public acceptance would help such understanding, yet this approach is seldom used in project appraisal. The current paper aims at filling this gap, in a valuation study dealing with a military facility located in Sardinia (Italy). A hybrid choice model is applied to the data, which integrates a rich socio-psychological framework with the choice model, resulting in a complex multi-layer structure. Results show that place attachment, sense of community and trust in institutions influence the perception of environmental and health risks, and the perception of economic benefits. The latter factors are negatively correlated and directly influence the utility of the attributes characterising the alternatives, driving the preference toward the proposed scenarios. These findings have important practical implications, giving guidance to calibrate welfare compensations and to define policy measures aimed at socio-economic regeneration.

Understanding the Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behavior among South Africans: Evidence from a Structural Equation Model

This paper explores the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) and environmental awareness, knowledge, attitudes, risk perceptions and activism in South Africa. To achieve this goal, the 2010–2012 data from the International Social Survey Program “Environmental III” was analysed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics, including the employment of the structural equation model. Significant differences were found between pro-environmental behaviour and other environmental variables such as environmental concern, awareness, willingness to sacrifice, and others in terms of the educational background, place of living, ethnic identity and provinces where respondents lived. Thus, to increase PEB amongst citizens would require the introduction and support of development programmes that enhance access to more education and environmental awareness across all population groups.

What Determines Individual Demand for Ecosystem Services?

Human demand for natural resources tends to be unsustainable. However, within ecosystem services (ES) literature, a rather rationalist view of ES demand dominates. This article broadens this perspective by looking at the demand from the angle of sociological risk theory. Theoretically driven interviews were conducted in three German regions and interpreted in light of risk theory. The empirical results indicate that demand can be explained by multiple aspects: (1) living and working environments, nature perception; (2) individual perceptions of environmental risk; and (3) societal socio-cultural influences. These results can be built upon in future ES research to improve our understanding of the social drivers of demand, which may inform the cultural landscape’s governance and communication strategies that encourage sustainable ES demand.

ASSESSING ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS LEVELS: A NEW MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Assessments of ecological awareness levels are immensely crucial in ecological awareness studies, especially for a developing country like Kazakhstan, which has struggled and is still struggling to address various environmental problems ranging from the Aral Sea to water deficiency matters. While many scholars have addressed the specific aspects of environmental problems such as air and water pollution, there is limited amount of work on addressing ecological awareness levels among the general popula-tion by local Kazakhstani scholars. This paper’s research objective was to propose a new conceptual framework for assessing ecological awareness levels. It consisted of four main dimensions: cognitive, af-fective, altruistic and conative dimension, for which each of the following dimensions different research instruments were introduced. For that, the paper extensively researched, emulated and re-applied the theoretical frameworks and concepts of the works of Western scholars. The aim of this research is to fill the research gap on the lack of conceptual frameworks in assessing the general public’s level of ecologi-cal awareness in Kazakhstan. The results obtained from this paper was the introduction of a new multi-dimensional framework and the applicability of three new research instruments for future academic studies in the context of Kazakhstan. These new research tools included the 15-item EEV Scale Model, 26-item Environmental Risk Perception Scale Model, and the 18-item EAS Model. This paper provided researchers with immensely valuable research instruments for pinpointing differences in environmental values, beliefs, concerns, and perceptions of different sample populations in Kazakhstan.Key words: Kazakhstan; ecological awareness; conceptual framework; assessment dimensions.

High school students’ trust and risk perception of typhoon disaster: Moderating role of government ability in disaster management

Under global warming and environmental changes, coastal cities have witnessed significant typhoon disasters that attract considerable attention from scholars. Existing studies mainly focused on typhoon disaster prevention and reduction by examining the impact of the public's trust on risk perception. However, these studies overlooked the influence of government ability, even though government plays an important role in disaster management. Therefore, this study takes Ningbo, China as an example to analyze the impact of trust on risk perception and explore the role of government ability on the referred relationship. High school students are taken as the research targets as they are vulnerable but important in typhoon disaster mitigation, which may have been overlooked in existing studies. Regression is used to examine these relationships. The findings of this study are as follows. First, students' trust in meteorological departments, expert institutions, and government agencies positively impact economic, personal, and environmental risk perception. Second, government ability negatively moderates the relationships between students' trust in meteorological departments and expert institutions and all types of risk perception. Moreover, it only has a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between students' trust in government agencies and economic risk perception. The study reveals the moderating role of government ability between trust and risk perception and provides references for further study on the relationship between trust and risk perception.