Determinants of environmental behavior in societies in transition: Evidence from five European countries
Date
2004Author
Korfiatis, Konstantinos J.Hovardas, Tasos
Pantis, J. D.
Source
Population and EnvironmentVolume
25Issue
6Pages
563-584Google Scholar check
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Countries of Central and East Europe are in a process of economic, social and political transition. This process provides a unique opportunity for cross-national studies in a context of social transformation and radical infrastructural changes. In the present study, we compared environmental behavior, and the factors affecting it, of citizens from five European countries with diverse economic and social status. Outcomes of the present survey suggest that people's attitudes towards environmental issues and economy-environment trade-offs can be considered reliable predictors, contrary to political attitudes which did not prove to be important determinants of environmental behavior. However, one should be aware of the differences in individual factors affecting citizens' environmental behavior, since the latter cannot be considered as a linear function of a country's development and modernization.