Air pollution in Mexico City: attribution and perception of causes and effects / La contaminación del aire en la Ciudad de México: atribución y percepción de sus causas y efectos

Abstract

Air pollution is caused by human activities and affects health. As an imminent risk to the inhabitants of Mexico City's Metropolitan Area, both environmental and socio-cultural aspects must be taken into account. Because of the psychological dimensions' relevance as predecessors of environmental behaviour, the aim of this study is to describe air pollution's perception, causal attribution and their relation. Results show differences by age, education, location and awareness. The use of cars and of public transport is attributed to behavioural characteristics, while household energy saving and car maintenance are attributed to personal factors. The perception of causes and effects points out energy saving as attributed to personal factors. To attribute car use to circumstances leads to explain the use of public transport to personal factors. Identifying these characteristics will allow policy makers to design tailored informational campaigns, address specific necessities and intervene more effectively.

From anticipatory strategies to reactive blame games in multi-level settings: the role of structure and politics in stability and policy change

“…Pollution peaks are blame-generating events in Mexico City due to their proximity (or their immediate effects on people's lives), saliency (Hinterleitner 2018;Soss and Schram 2007), and its political connotation. Regarding their proximity, public perception studies show that Mexico City inhabitants consider the city highly polluted with significant health effects: more than 80% of teenagers consider the pollution levels as high and very high (Catalán-Vázquez et al 2009;Landeros-Mugica et al 2014). Additionally, during pollution crises, the government implements various measures to decrease pollutant levels as soon as possible.…”

“…The air pollution problem was then set as a political and social concern, stuck in the inhabitants' minds. Indeed, those who witnessed the late 80s-early 90s crisis are Days with polluƟon peaks ICA activation levels Year more aware of the problem than younger generations (Landeros-Mugica et al 2014). From thereon, public authorities handle air pollution crises with care due to its blame-generating features.…”

“…more aware of the problem than younger generations (Landeros-Mugica et al 2014). From thereon, public authorities handle air pollution crises with care due to its blame-generating features.…”

Attitudes towards urban air pollution: a Q methodology study / Actitudes frente a la contaminación atmosférica urbana: un estudio basado en el método Q

“…En el estudio realizado por Howel, Moffatt, Prince, Bush, & Dunn (2002) se encontró que los residentes de mayor edad mostraban menor tendencia a calificar la calidad del aire como mala. Otros estudios han confirmado la relación entre edad y percepción de la contaminación atmosférica (Jacobi, 1994; Johnson, 2002; Landeros-Mugica, Ortega-Andeane, Reyes-Lagunes, & Sosa-Echeverría, 2014). El análisis realizado por Semenza et al (2008) indica que el género también tiene una relación significativa con la percepción de una calidad atmosférica deficiente, siendo las mujeres las que denuncian una calidad del aire peor.…”

“…In the study by Howel, Moffatt, Prince, Bush, and Dunn (2002) it was found that older residents were less likely to rate the local air quality as low. Other studies have confirmed the link between age and air pollution perception (Jacobi, 1994; Johnson, 2002; Landeros-Mugica, Ortega-Andeane, Reyes-Lagunes, & Sosa-Echeverría, 2014). The analysis from Semenza et al (2008) indicated that sex was significantly related to perception of poor air quality, being females those who report worse air quality.…”