Two Decades of Measuring Environmental Attitudes: An Analysis of the ISSP Environmental Modules 1993, 2000, and 2010

This paper analyzes the development of environmental concern by using the three waves of the environmental modules of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). First, we discuss the measurement of environmental concern and construct a ranking of countries according to the new 2010 ISSP results. Second, we analyze the determinants of environmental concern by employing multilevel models that take individual as well as context effects into account. Third, we explore the impact of attitudes on environmental behavior and support of environmental policies. The results show that environmental concern is closely correlated with the wealth of nations. However, environmental concern decreased in OECD as well as non-OECD nations slightly during the last two decades. The decline was lower in countries with improving economic conditions suggesting that economic growth helps to maintain higher levels of environmental concern. Furthermore, attitudes have a stronger impact on support of environmental policies as compared to everyday environmental behavior.