Religion and attitudes toward the environment: a comparison of Mormons and the general U.S. population

Abstract

Religion has been shown to influence attitudes toward an array of social issues. This manuscript focuses specifically on environmental issues, with empirical examination of the distinctiveness of contemporary Mormon environmental perspectives as contrasted with the general U.S. population. A belief in the importance of dominion over the environment is noted, by some, to be reflected in anti-environmental stance characterizing Mormon Culture Region political leaders and church members [Foltz, R. C. (2000). Mormon values and the Utah environment. Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion, 4, 1–19]. Yet, a set of highly regarded essays by a diverse group of Mormons, including some in church leadership positions, expresses strong personal commitments to environmental causes and point to Mormon teachings and doctrines promoting environmentalism (Williams, Smith, and Gibbs, 1998). We examine variation in environmental concern as expressed by Mormons in a local community survey undertaken in Logan, Utah, as contrasted with the nationally-representative General Social Survey (1993). We find substantial differences between Mormons and the national sample; While Mormons tended to express greater levels of environmental concern, they were less likely to have undertaken specific behaviors reflective of such concern.

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the American Sociological Association's Spivak Community Action Research Initiative, with supplementary funding provided by Utah State University's Women and Gender Research Institute and in-kind support from the Environmental Health Department, City of Logan, Utah. The work was undertaken on behalf of the Environmental Health Department while the author was Assistant Professor of Sociology at Utah State University. Assistance in survey implementation was provided by Michael Smith, while Candace Kolos and Casey Cunningham provided essential support during the project's final phases.

Notes

1 Kay and Brown's analysis (1985) is restricted to the Mormons’ first three decades in Utah, a critical time for the forming a foundation for development of current environmental views.

2 The volunteers were a central part of this endeavor, in that given the time and financial constraints of the project, it was not feasible to hire professional interviewers. In addition, the Environmental Health Department was very interested in involving community members concerned with solid waste issues in the survey endeavor. The volunteers did not administer the survey itself, but rather dropped off the surveys and coordinated pick-ups, with the respondents themselves self-administering the questionnaire.

3 Two specific tasks were undertaken to explore any potential bias introduced through the use of volunteer survey administrators. First, we contrasted survey demographics (i.e., age, gender, education, and geographic distribution) to those for the county as a whole, with results suggesting survey respondents provide reasonable representation of the county population more generally. Second, we examined response distributions to identify any questions that appeared unreasonably skewed. No such evidence arose.

4 The measurement of income was not comparable across the nationwide and Cache County surveys, and as such, we rely solely upon education as an indicator of socioeconomic status.

5 LDS respondents to the Cache County survey are presented as “LDS” throughout the remainder of the text.