Perceptions: a continuation

Hey everyone,

 

This is a continuation of last week’s post, as I was inspired to find out how my investigations differed from other research about environmental perceptions.

 

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Firstly, let’s talk demographics. As I read other research materials, I realised that women were more likely than men to care more about climate change. I would think that this is because men generally hold higher positions in the socioeconomic ladder and therefore, they are more likely to care more about economic growth (which oftentimes occurs on a different direction from environmentalism). Also, studies have shown that women are affected by climate change disproportionately more than men.

 

Age of the people also matter, as younger people are more likely to be more concerned about climate change than older people (71% of those people aged 18-29 compared to 50% of those aged 50 and above). Why is this so? Is it because younger people think that they will face the brunt of the effects from environmental issues and older people don’t think that the problems will affect them? This study shows this. However, older people are gradually becoming more aware of these issues.

 

Education is another factor that plays a big part in the results. More educated people were more likely to be more conscious and care more about environmental issues, as they are taught about the importance of environmental responsibility and their role in this problem. However, that is not to say that less educated people are oblivious to environmental problems, as these people could be the populations that are directly impacted by environmental issues eg. farmers whose main income source is agriculture and such populations are shown to exhibit high levels of awareness towards environmental issues.

 

Connections between race and environmental problems have been found, with people of color being treated unfairly and given polluted land in the US. I don’t think that race is a defining factor of environmental awareness in Singapore’s terms, as I believe that in Singapore everyone is equally shielded from the impacts of climate change although this study does possibly show the existence and effects of racism here. What do you think?

 

My short ‘study’ didn’t take into account gender, age, race and education levels. It would’ve been more interesting if I had done that and compared my results to the researchers’.

 

 

Next, let’s look at the methods of questioning. This study includes questions which ask if the respondents personally do anything to help the environment (lifestyle choices) and even asked what they do to help the environment as an open-ended question. As mentioned in my previous post, does awareness translate to action? That was one aspect my findings failed to cover which is unfortunate. It would’ve been cool to investigate the links between age, gender, education, race, awareness and action. The lack of open-ended questions in my questionnaire does leave out an endless list of possible responses which could have shown a completely different finding.

 

All that digging gave me new insight into critically analysing data. What other factors impact environmental perceptions? Let me know. Next up, back to the topic of glaciers!

 

Clive

10 thoughts on “Perceptions: a continuation

  1. Hi Clive! This short study really deepened my understanding of the different demographics. What especially appealed to me was the fact that race played a role as well.

    I read the study by James cook that you posted, do you think that since racism might be evident in jobs, jobs then play a role in perceptions and contributions towards climate change? Is that evident in Singapore?

    1. Hi Stacia!

      That’s true, and some examples I can think of are jobs in the environmental field or jobs that expose people to the impacts of climate change. As our climate heats up, outdoor workers would be affected as mentioned in this link I found from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. I said that everyone in Singapore is shielded from the impacts of climate change because Singaporeans generally have pretty comfortable lives, but I realise that I am overlooking the minority who have to engage in outdoor work, like cleaners as well as the construction workers.
      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

      Clive

  2. Hi Clive!

    The difference in environmental perceptions between young and old people does set me thinking as well. Other than the possibility that the younger people are more concerned as they would have to face the effects from environmental issues, I wonder are there other reasons? I find this alarming as older people tend to be more affected to climate change as compared to teenagers as mentioned here in this link: https://www.prb.org/climatechangeimpactsandemergingpopulationtrendsarecipefordisaster/

    Would love to see what you think!

    Thank you for the good read!
    – Rachel

    1. Hi Rachel,

      Thanks for taking the time to read my blog 🙂 I think that one reason could be that younger people (like us) grow up surrounded with information about climate change, when climate change discussion has gained traction. This study raises this point, and also that older people have more ‘illusory knowledge’ where they believe they know more about climate change than they actually do, so as to feel better about themselves. This stands true despite the fact that they are more susceptible to the health effects of climate change… so education is definitely key here in my opinion. Hope this helps!

      Clive

  3. Hi Clive,

    I think location (between and within countries) also affects environmental perceptions. I believe people living in places that are more vulnerable/exposed to environmental threats will be more concerned about certain environmental issues. I found this paper (https://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2569&context=td) that supports my belief. The paper also studied most of the factors you mentioned, but there were interesting ones like how the health of people and marital status may affect environmental perceptions. Thought you may find it interesting too! (it is quite long though, maybe you could just read the discussion section, p39-43)

    -Si Ying

    1. Hi Si Ying,

      Thanks for bring that up, I totally agree with you! I see that pg42 mentioned that black respondents showed greater concern over environmental issues as they are more exposed to them, which I mentioned in my post. People who face such problems daily would definitely feel more strongly about environmental issues. Overall, I feel like there are many factors which affect environmental perceptions, and I hope that my post can help to break a few of these factors down for readers so that everyone can look at these issues from different perspectives! Thanks for sharing the study, I found it really interesting as well 🙂

      Cheers,
      Clive

  4. Hi Clive,

    On the importance of clarity…

    “women were more likely to care more about climate change than men”

    Written this way, it’s ambiguous. Could easily be interpreted as women care more about climate change than they care about men. Which I find funny.

    jc

  5. Hi Clive,
    Great post by the way:)
    I noticed how you stated that males would tend to care less about the environment because of their higher positions of power in the socioeconomic ladder. I think it’s interesting to note that men also tend to have more say in deciding environmental policies. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0448-2) With the environment disproportionately affecting women who have little say, how do you think we can improve gender inequality in decision-making beyond establishing quotas for minimum representation?
    – Chloe

    1. Hi Chloe,

      I’m glad you enjoyed the read, and thanks for sharing that article! In my opinion, establishing quotas for minimum representation doesn’t solve the root problem. To do that, we must look at why women are under-represented in the first place. I think it all points down to the issue of sexism, which can be solved through education and the active condemnation of such mindsets. That is not to say that minimum representation doesn’t help because it is helpful in that it is fast and relatively easy to implement.

      Clive

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