Climate Change: Concerns, Beliefs and Emotions in Residents, Experts, Decision Makers, Tourists, and Tourist Industry

Abstract

The aim was to investigate effects of different groups of individuals (residents, tourists, experts, decision makers and members of tourist industry) and demographic variables (gender, age, education) on climate change-related concerns, beliefs and emotions. In line with the predictions: 1) Experts were shown to be least concerned for and afraid of climate change impact; 2) Youngest participants were found to be most, and oldest least, concerned for their future; 3) Women were shown to be more concerned for and afraid of the consequences of climate change; and 4) Men and the least educated participants believed their jobs to be more threatened by the environmental laws and protection, and the latter ones believed moreover that the claims about climate change are exaggerated. Implications of these findings for value orientations and their relationships to environmental concerns, beliefs and emotions are discussed.

Climate change skepticism among adolescents

“…A possible explanation for these results could perhaps be found in a recent Swedish study on adults showing that a group with less power in society, people with lower education, were more inclined to perceive the climate change problem as exaggerated (Knez, Thorsson and Eliasson 2013). At the same time these people were more likely to perceive their jobs to be threatened by stricter environmental laws and protection than those with higher education, results that also were the case when comparing men with women.…”

Is Climate Change a Moral Issue? Effects of Egoism and Altruism on Pro-Environmental Behavior

“…Egoism vs. altruism. Climate-change-related beliefs grounded in environment-related egoistic vs. altruistic value orientations were used as a measure of egoism vs. altruism, derived from Hansla, Gamble, Juliusson, &Gärling, 2008 andKnez et al (2013): Egoism (1) Laws that protect the environment limit my choices and personal freedom and (2) Protecting the environment will threaten jobs for people like me (α = .64); Altruism (3) Effects of climate change on public health are worse than people realize and (4) Pollution generated in one country harms people all over the world (α = .56). Participants were asked to respond to these statements on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree).…”

“…Consequently, both knowledge about climate change and confidence in that knowledge may vary across groups of individuals, such as scientists, journalists, politicians and laypersons (Sundblad, Biel, & Gärling, 2009). Knez, Thorsson and Eliasson (2013) have, for example, shown that: 1) Experts were least concerned for, and afraid of, climate change impact; 2) Youngest participants were found to be most, and oldest least, concerned for their future; 3) Women were shown to be more concerned for, and afraid of, the consequences of climate change; 4) Men and the least educated participants believed their jobs to be more threatened by environmental laws and protection, and the latter believed moreover that the claims about climate change were exaggerated.…”

Relationships between Personal and Collective Place Identity and Well-Being in Mountain Communities

“…Definitions of landscape include not only objective natural characteristics ( Turner, 1989 ), but also subjective human views, perceptions, identifications and memories ( Knez, 2006 ; Knez and Thorsson, 2008 ; Lewicka, 2008 ; Stobbelaar and Pedroli, 2011 ). We evolve personal and collective ties toward landscapes, meaning that sites encompass not only physical and spatial parameters but also psychological, social, historical, religious, moral, health and cultural connotations ( Graumann, 2002 ; Knez, 2005 , 2013 , 2016a ; Knez et al, 2009 ; Knez et al, 2013 ; Lachowycz and Jones, 2013 ; Gunnarsson et al, 2016 ; Ode Sang et al, 2016 ). Culture is to society what memory is to individuals ( Triandis, 1994 ), involving traditions and practices regarding how we perceive and comprehend physical surroundings and ourselves ( Canter, 1997 ; Knez and Thorsson, 2006 ).…”