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Predicting land use voting behavior: expanding our understanding of the influence of attitudes and social norms
Author(s) -
Maloney Erin K.,
Lapinski Maria K.,
Neuberger Lindsay
Publication year - 2013
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/jasp.12186
Subject(s) - voting , normative , psychology , social psychology , voting behavior , action (physics) , perception , social power , predictive power , power (physics) , political science , politics , law , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
Abstract Voting to tax oneself in the current economic climate seems improbable. Framed in theories of normative influence and behavior change, this study tests the factors that predict voting for a county‐level millage (i.e., tax) to fund land preservation. Behavioral beliefs that contribute to people's attitudes toward the millage are identified and a model is tested with an expanded normative component. Results indicate that attitudes and subjective norms significantly predict voting intentions, and injunctive norms (i.e., people's perceptions of others' approval of taking an action) add significantly to the model's predictive power. Findings are reinforced by election results in which the millage proposal passed and can contribute to the applied literature by identifying social‐psychological factors that can be targeted with campaign messages.