2009/10/23 by Catherine Mobley, Wade M. Vagias, Sarah L. DeWard · 368 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Environmental Science · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Biology and political orientation #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Environmental Education and Sustainability #Environmental Sustainability in Business #Environmental education #Environmentalism #Formative assessment #Geography #Pedagogy #Political science #Politics #Premise #Psychology #Reading (process) #Scale (ratio) #Social psychology
paper · doi:10.1177/0013916508325002
published in Environment and Behavior 42(4), 420-447 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2009/10/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
It is often assumed that individuals who are knowledgeable and concerned about the environment will engage in environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). We use data from a large scale Web survey hosted on National Geographic’s Web site in 2001-2002 to investigate this premise. We examine whether reading three classic environmental books ( Walden, A Sand County Almanac, and Silent Spring) is associated with the likelihood of engaging in ERB. Conceptualizing this activity as a formative experience and a source of environmental knowledge, we hypothesized that reading such literature would be a stronger predictor of ERB than sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., gender, education, and political orientation), general environmental attitudes (as measured by the New Ecological Paradigm), and concern about specific environmental risks. The results indicated that while reading environmental literature was a stronger predictor of ERB than background characteristics and the NEP, environmental concern was an even stronger predictor. We offer reasons for these findings and make suggestions for environmental education and future research.