Income and Environmental Concern: What Matters Most is Political Ideology

• In Event: Environmental Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Climate Attitudes, Ideology, and Beliefs

Abstract

Income has received substantial attention in efforts to understand the determinants of environmental views. However, findings related to it have been mixed, necessitating further exploration of the relationship. Will different dimensions of income influence environmental concern differently? We investigate, as a novel approach, how different dimensions of income—absolute income, the Yitzhaki index, and proportion income—are related to environmental concern. Additionally, we assess whether political ideology affects these relationships. Based on data from the U.S. General Social Survey, we find evidence that the pattern of relationship between income and environmental concern depends on the dimension of income considered. We find evidence of each dimension relating to one or more of the measures of environmental concern, but these relationships are moderated by political ideology. In terms of absolute income, people identifying as liberals express greater environmental concern, whereas the results are mixed when relative income is considered. Relating to the Yitzhaki index, we find that it is the least and most deprived individuals who express greater environmental concern. This study provides two important take-aways. First, how income is measured affects its relationship with environmental concern. Second, the relationship between income and environmental concern is influenced by political ideology.

Authors

• Lazarus Adua, University of Utah

• Brett Clark, University of Utah

• Daniel Auerbach, University of Wyoming

• Karen Xuan Zhang, University of Utah

• Jared Weld Sanborn, University of Utah