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Environmental Evaluations and Participation Activities: A Social Psychological Field Study 1
Author(s) -
Prester Georg,
Rohrmann Bernd,
Schellhammer Edith
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1987.tb00338.x
Subject(s) - psychology , stressor , citizen journalism , environmental quality , politics , longitudinal field , social psychology , field (mathematics) , process (computing) , quality (philosophy) , applied psychology , political science , clinical psychology , philosophy , physics , mathematics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , magnetic field , computer science , pure mathematics , law , operating system
A social‐psychological field study analyzed how residents respond to environmental problems. The presupposed theoretical framework combines perspectives of environmental research and of political science, and attempts to explain the process intermediate to the presence of environmental stressors and participatory or protest activities. Empirical data were collected in an urban area where plans for a railway had led to some involvement by the citizens. In Phase I of a quasi‐experimental longitudinal approach, 229 personal interviews were conducted based on a standardized questionnaire. The data analyses are oriented toward a description and prediction of environmental evaluations and participatory behavior. The results demonstrate that participation is mainly influenced by evaluations of present environmental quality, the expected state of the environment in the future, the knowledge and assessment of participation, and general interest in politics. The exposure level, environment‐related attitudes (e.g., environmental awareness or desired environmental quality), and personal characteristics (e.g., education), operate as initial determinants in the causal structure of participation. The evidence obtained supports the main claims of the proposed causal model, but also indicates necessary revisions.