Religiosity and Environmental Policy Attitudes in the United States

• In Event: International History and Politics & Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual Poster Session: Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Examining religiosity’s link to environmental policy attitudes is potentially a fruitful area in environmental politics; some religious figures believe humans should be stewards for nature, while others hold that humanity is above nature and the Earth and its resources were created specifically for humans’ use. Previous work on this topic has produced conflicting evidence: some studies have found a link between increased religiosity and increased environmental sustainability behaviors and support, while other studies have found support for the standard conception in the mass media that very religious people are on the right politically and therefore anti-environment. The causal mechanisms have been somewhat understudied (Kilburn 2014 and Konisky 2018 being notable exceptions).
This paper will present the results of a survey taken of Americans regarding their religiosity and environmental political behavior, asking about multiple conceptions of religiosity (self-identified, how often people attend services, how often people pray) and multiple types of environmental behavior (sustainability practices, beliefs on energy efficiency, beliefs on climate change). Preliminary analysis indicates that different conceptions of religiosity lead to different types of environmental behavior. Those who believe themselves to be more religious than others tend to be anti-environment, while those who pray multiple times a day or attend services multiple times a month tend to be pro-environment.

Author

• Andrew Kirkpatrick, Christopher Newport University