Poster #121 - Adolescent Authoritarianism and Religiosity as Predictors of Later Environmental Attitudes

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Moral Development

Integrative Statement

In this study we examined adolescent religiosity and authoritarianism as predictors of later environmental attitudes and behaviors in a sample of Canadians. Research linking religion to environmentalism has reported mixed results in a North American context. One explanation could be the underlying political framework (i.e., conservative versus liberal) in which people embed their religious beliefs. On the one hand, it has been found that those who belong to Judeo-Christian religions, which often promote an anthropocentric view that nature was created to serve man, are less concerned about the natural environment (Hand & Van Liere, 1984; White, 1967). Work that supports this position from Schultz and Stone (1994) found a negative relationship between right-wing authoritarianism (e.g., one’s willingness to submit to authorities (Altemeyer, 1996)) and environmental concern. On the other hand, those who hold more liberal religious views have been shown to exhibit greater environmental concern (e.g. Dunlap et al., 2000; Feinberg & Willer, 2012; Hine & Gifford, 1991).
In our work, we further explore this relationship between religion, political belief, and environmentalism within a developmental framework. Adolescence is considered a time of identity formation across a variety of developmental domains, including religion, politics and the environment (Erikson, 1968; Pratt & Matsuba, 2018). Hence, our interest was to determine whether adolescents’ religious development predicted later environmental beliefs and behaviors, and whether an underlying right-wing authoritarian belief system might mediate this relationship.
Approximately, 900 high school students (59% women) were surveyed at ages 17, 19, 23, 26, and 32. With attrition, the remaining sample by 32 was approximately 100. Students were assessed on their religious commitment (i.e., religious belief and attendance) at ages 17, 19, 23, and 32. The Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scale (Altemeyer 1996) was administered at age 19. Finally, at age 32 participants completed measures capturing environmental identity, behavior and beliefs: The Environmental Identity Scale (EID) (Clayton, 2003); the Environmental inventory of Involvement Scale (EII) (Matsuba et al., 2012); and the revised New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) (Dunlap et al., 2000).
Latent growth curve modeling was applied to model religious commitment trajectory from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Intercept (i.e., initial level of religious commitment) and slope were used to predict environmental identity, behavior and beliefs in adulthood. We tested two models, one with RWA as a mediator, χ2 (15) = 37.8, p < .01, CFI= .98; RMSEA = .04, and one without, χ2 (11) = 30.8, p < .01; CFI =.98; RMSEA = .04. Both models provided good fits to the data. In the second model, intercept (b = -1.98, p < .001) predicted environmental beliefs (NEP) but not environmental identity or behavior. Slope did not predict any environmental measure. When RWA was added as a mediator, intercept was no longer a predictor of environmental beliefs, suggesting there was a mediating effect. This was confirmed using Preachers and Hayes’ (2008) mediating process macro. Our results are discussed in the context of the importance of the political framing of environmental issues beginning in late adolescence.

Authors

• Andrea Yet Jang Mah, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  Presenting Author

• Kyle Matsuba, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Connor Mitchell, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael W Pratt, Wilfrid Laurier University
  Non-Presenting Author