Attitudes towards climate change
| Thesis title in Czech: | Postoje ke změně klimatu |
|---|---|
| Thesis title in English: | Attitudes towards climate change |
| Key words: | postoje ke změně klimatu|politická opatření|adaptace na změnu klimatu|mitigace změny klimatu|změna klimatu|chovaní šetrné vůči životnímu prostředí |
| English key words: | attitudes towards climate change|policy measures|adaptation to climate change|mitigation of climate change|climate change|environmentally friendly behaviour |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2023/2024 |
| Thesis type: | diploma thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Sociology (21-KSOC) |
| Supervisor: | Mgr. Iva Zvěřinová, Ph.D. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 27.11.2023 |
| Date of assignment: | 28.11.2023 |
| Administrator's approval: | approved |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 28.11.2023 |
| Submitted/finalized: | no |
| Guidelines |
| 1. Background (Východiska): Climate change is a phenomenon that affects the entire society. Society's response to climate change consists of actions responding to climate change. These are divided into mitigation measures, which mitigate climate change by reducing the emitted emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and adaptation measures, which help people to adapt to the effects of climate change. Public acceptance of these types of measures is one of the fundamental prerequisites for their successful implementation (Bumann, 2021). It is important to emphasize that these measures are political, because only from the position of the government can legal frameworks be created that determine the rules that shape the decisions of various actors in society, such as individuals or firms (Stoddart, Tindall & Greenfield, 2012). There is a large body of scholarly work examining the relationship between different variables and the level of acceptance of mitigation and adaptation measures (Alló & Loureiro, 2014; Banerjee, Savani & Shreedhar, 2021; Drews & van den Bergh, 2016). In my thesis, I will explore the relationship between environmentally friendly behaviour and support for the adoption of climate policy measures. The motivation for examining this particular relationship is to find out whether people find environmentally friendly behaviour sufficient or whether these people simultaneously express support for climate policy measures. This finding has implications, for example, for the form that communication of such measures should take or the targeting of such communication. 2. Goals (Cíle): The thesis aims to investigate how environmentally friendly behaviour and support for climate policy measures are related in the Czech Republic. The issue of the relationship between individuals' environmental attitudes and their pro-environmental actions has existed in sociology for a long time. What motivates people to perform pro-environmental actions is conceptualized by the theory of "Values, Beliefs, and Norms" (Stern, 2000). Already in this study, we see arguments showing that an individual's environmental values, beliefs, and norms, which include a sense of duty to be environmentally friendly, can lead to activity in the public sphere, which is also politics. Sociological research also shows the relevance of several variables in supporting climate policy measures, such as trust in government or the degree of press freedom in a country (Tjernström & Tietenberg, 2008). Further sociological research examining the attitudes of members of environmental organizations shows that it is the government that is considered to be the main actor in the fight against climate change, while people's lifestyles are also an important element of the response to climate change (Stoddart, Tindall & Greenfield, 2012). Therefore, the unique contribution of this thesis is that it adds to existing research by concretizing how different forms of nature-friendly behaviour also imply support for climate policy measures in the Czech context. 3. Methods (Metodika): The strength of the relationship between environmentally friendly behaviour and acceptance of climate policy measures will be analysed using data from a questionnaire survey carried out as part of my supervisor's research project. A sample of approximately 1500 respondents from the Czech Republic will be selected from an online panel according to quotas, to be representative based on socio-demographic characteristics. In my work, I will use multiple linear regressions, in order to estimate what is the predictive strength of different independent variables which will consist of various forms of enviromentally friendly behaviour. The dependent variables will consist of different types of climate policy measures. 4. Hypotheses (Hypotézy): Environmentally significant behaviour can be classified into four types (Stern, 2000): environmental activism (e.g. participation in social movements), non-activist behaviours in the public sphere (e.g. accepting or supporting public policies), private sphere environmentalism (e.g. actions in the household), and other environmentally significant behaviours (e.g. actions in the workplace). In empirical studies, support for climate policy measures is explained by several variables that can be divided into three groups. Socio-psychological factors and perceptions of climate change, attitudes towards the design of climate policy measures, and contextual factors (Drews & van den Bergh, 2016). According to the existing literature, environmental values and norms are positively related to support for climate policy measures. The hypotheses that I will test in this thesis look at a subset of this large set of variables and focus on differences in the values and socioeconomic status of people who engage in environmentally friendly behaviours and who support climate policy measures. Examples of the hypotheses: People who make environmentally friendly food purchasing choices are more likely to support climate policy measures. People who make ecological choices about their transportation are more likely to support climate policy measures. People who have purchased energy-efficient appliances in their household are more likely to support climate policy measures. People who separate waste are more likely to support climate policy measures. People who have environmental values and norms are more likely to support climate policy measures and behave in a nature-friendly way. People who have egoistic values and norms are more likely to prefer energy-saving behaviour and are more likely to oppose climate policy measures. People from low-income households are more likely to prefer energy-saving and are more likely to oppose climate policy measures. 5. Characteristics of conclusions (Charakteristika závěrů): This thesis will investigate the strength of the relationship between different dimensions of environmentally friendly behaviour and the level of acceptance of climate policy measures in the Czech population. |
| References |
| Allo, M. D., & Loureiro, M. L. (2014). The role of social norms on preferences towards climate change policies: A meta-analysis. Energy Policy, 73, 563–574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.04.042 Banerjee, S., Savani, M., & Shreedhar, G. (2021). Public support for ‘soft’ versus ‘hard’ public policies: Review of the evidence. Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 4(2).https://doi.org/10.30636/jbpa.42.220 Bergquist, M., Nilsson, A., Harring, N., & Jagers, S. C. (2022). Meta-analyses of fifteen determinants of public opinion about climate change taxes and laws. Nature Climate Change, 12(3), 235–240.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01297-6 Bumann, S. (2021). What are the Determinants of Public Support for Climate Policies? A Review of the Empirical Literature. Jahrbuch FüR Wirtschaftswissenschaften, 72(3), 213–228.https://doi.org/10.1515/roe-2021-0046 Drews, S., & Van Den Bergh, J. (2015). What explains public support for climate policies? A review of empirical and experimental studies. Climate Policy, 16(7), 855–876.https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2015.1058240 Stern, P. C. (2000). Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00175 Stoddart, M. C. J., Tindall, D. B., & Greenfield, K. (2012). “Governments have the power”? Interpretations of climate change responsibility and solutions among Canadian environmentalists. Organization & Environment, 25(1), 39–58.https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026612436979 Tjernström, E., & Tietenberg, T. (2008). Do differences in attitudes explain differences in national climate change policies? Ecological Economics, 65(2), 315–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.06.019 |