ABSTRACT
This article studies the question of how global cultural models shape individual environmental behaviours. The analysis applies a novel, cross-sectional, longitudinal, multilevel model that combines individual-level survey data from sixteen countries collected by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) with contextual characteristics such as the presence of international organisations, the national institutionalisation of environmentalism, and polities’ demands on individual participation. The analysis provides only limited support for the direct effects of ties to world society. It rather suggests indirect effects via the institutionalisation of environmentalism at the national level and via various individual exposure variables. In addition, both public and private behaviours are positively influenced by attitudinal alignment with global models, whereas certain individualisation processes have negative effects.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Readers interested in cross-national variations in environmental concerns and behaviours can find comprehensive overviews in Dalton and Rohrschneider (Citation2015), Fairbrother (Citation2013), Franzen and Vogl (Citation2013), and Gross and Telesiene (Citation2016).
2. See: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/issues/human-rights/. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
3. Whereas ‘old’ movements such as the labour movement emphasised economic concerns.
4. Detailed results can be requested from the author.