Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Taking Environmental Action: The Role of Local Composition, Context, and Collective

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article explores individual and community action taken in response to perceived environmental risks by investigating the determinants of environmental action across a range of action types. A conceptual framework is first presented, which provides a foundation for investigating the role of local compositional (i.e., individual characteristics), contextual (i.e., neighborhood environment), and collective (i.e., social networks) factors in environmental action. To test the utility of the conceptual framework, a quantitative survey was administered to a random sample of households (n = 512) in Hamilton, Canada. The results suggest that the predictors of environmental action vary by action type (i.e., personal change, individual civic action, and cooperative civic action), and that factors related to perceived environmental exposure and social capital generally play a stronger, more consistent role in civic environmental action than sociodemographic or neighborhood factors. The results underscore the role of social connection in responses to perceived environmental risks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Agyeman J. 2002. Constructing environmental (in)justice: transatlantic tales. Environmental Politics 11(3):31–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agyeman J., B. Evans. 2004. “Just sustainability”: The emerging discourse of environmental justice in Britain? The Geographical Journal 170(2):155–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnstein S. 69. A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Planning Association 35:216–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Blake D. E. 2001. Contextual effects of environmental attitudes and behavior. Environment and Behavior 33:708–725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corraliza, J. A., and J. Berenguer 2000. Environmental values, beliefs, and actions: A situational approach. Environment and Behaviour 32:832–848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietz T., P. C. Stern, G. A. Guagnano. 1998. Social structural and social psychological bases of environmental concern. Environment and Behavior 30:450–471

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunlap R. E., K. D. Van Liere, A. G. Mertig, R. E. Jones .2000. New trends in measuring environmental attitudes: Measuring endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm, a revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues 56:425–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott S. J., D. C. Cole, P. Krueger, N. Voorberg, S. Wakefield. 1999. The power of perception: Health risk attributed to air pollution in an urban industrial neighbourhood. Risk Analysis 19:615–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott S. J., S. M. Taylor, S. Walter, D. Steib, J. Frank, J. D. Eyles. 1993. Modeling psychosocial effects of exposure to solid waste facilities. Social Science and Medicine 37:791–804

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feitelson E., G. Lindsey. 2001. Local use of economic instruments in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Programme. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 44(2):187–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrero, L. 2002. Making up one’s self: Agency, commitments, and identity. Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 2002

  • Finger M. 1994. From knowledge to action? Exploring the relationships between environmental experiences, learning, and behavior. Journal of Social Issues 50:141–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furuseth O., C. Cocklin. 1995. Regional perspectives on resource policy: Implementing sustainable management in New Zealand. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 38(2):181–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner G. T., P. C. Stern. 1996. Environmental problems and human behavior. Allyn and Bacon, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Godschalk D. R., S. Brody, R. Burby. 2003. Public participation in natural hazard mitigation policy formation: Challenges for comprehensive planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 46(5):733–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green L. W., M. W. Kreuter. 1991. Health promotion planning: An educational and environmental approach. 2nd ed. Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg M. R., D. Schneider. 1997. Neighborhood quality, environmental hazards, personality traits, and resident actions. Risk Analysis 17:169–175

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gould K. A. 1993. Pollution and perception: Social visibility and local environmental mobilization. Qualitative Sociology 16:157–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Grodzinska-Jurczak M., M. Tarabula, A. D. Read. 2003. Increasing participation in rational municipal waste management: A case study analysis in Jaslo City (Poland). Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, 38(1):67–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton Air Quality Initiative. 1997a. Summary report. Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, Hamilton, Ontario

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton Air Quality Initiative. 1997b. Human health risk assessment for priority air pollutants. Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, Hamilton, Ontario

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosmer D. W., S. Lemeshow. 2000. Applied logistic regression. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Hummon D. M. 1992. Community attachment: Local sentiment and sense of place. In I. Altman S. M. Low (eds.) Place attachment. Plenum Press, New York. pp: 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Ife J. 1995. Community development. Longman, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Jerrett M., P. Kanaroglou, J. Eyles, N. Finkelstein, C. Giovis. 2000. A GIS-environmental justice analysis of particulate air pollution in Hamilton, Canada. Environment and Planning A 33:1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones R. E., R. E. Dunlap. 1992. The social bases of environmental concern: Have they changed over time? Rural Sociology 57:28–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan S. 2000. Human nature and environmentally responsible behavior. Journal of Social Issues 56:491–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kollmuss A., J. Agyeman. 2002. Mind the gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to proenvironmental behavior? Environmental Education Research 8:239–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langton S. 1978. Citizen participation in America. DC Health, Lexington Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus R. S. 1993. Coping theory and research: Past, present, and future. Psychosomatic Medicine 55:234–247

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luginaah I. N., S. M. Taylor, S. J. Elliott, J. D. Eyles. 2000. A longitudinal study of the health impacts of a petroleum refinery. Social Science and Medicine 50:1155–1166

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macintyre S., A. Ellaway, S. Cummins. 2002. Place effects on health: How can we conceptualise, operationalise, and measure them? Social Science and Medicine 55:125–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackenzie A. F. D., S. Dalby. 2003. Moving mountains: Community and resistance in the Isle of Harris, Scotland, and Cape Breton, Canada. Antipode 35(2):309–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer M., R. Roth. 1995. New social movements and the transformation into a post-Fordist society.Pages 299–319 In M. Darnovsky B. Epstein R. Flacks (eds.) Cultural politics and social movements. Temple University Press, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGurty E. M. 2000. Warren County, NC, and the emergence of the environmental justice movement: Unlikely coalitions and shared meanings in local collective action. Society and Natural Resources 13:373–387

    Google Scholar 

  • Nevitte N. 1996. The decline of deference. Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nevitte N., M. Kanji. 1995. Explaining environmental concern and action in Canada. Applied Behavioral Science Review 3:85–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northridge M. E., P. M. Shepard. 1995. Environmental racism and public health. American Journal of Public Health 87:730–731

    Google Scholar 

  • Offe C. 1985. New social movements: Challenging the boundaries of institutional politics. Social Research 52(4):817–868

    Google Scholar 

  • Perkins W. H., D. K. Demeis. 1994. Gender and family effects on the “second shift” domestic activity of college-educated young adults. Papers of the American Sociological Association (ASA). Hobart & William Smith Colls, Geneva, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam R. 1993. Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam R. D. 2000. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Touchstone, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranzjin R., J. Keeves, M. Luszcz, N. T. Feather. 1998. The role of perceived usefulness and competence in the self-esteem of early adults: Confirmatory factor analyses of the Bachman Revision of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Journal of Gerontology 53B:96–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth. 1995. Commuter study for Hamilton-Wentworth and surrounding areas. RMHW Planning and Development Department, Hamilton, Ontario

    Google Scholar 

  • Rissel C. 1994. Empowerment: The holy grail of health promotion? Health Promotion International 9:39–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Rochon T. R. 1998. Culture moves: Ideas, activism, and changing values. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohe W. M., V. Basolo. 1997. Long-term effects of home ownership on the self-perceptions and social interaction of low-income persons. Environment and Behavior 29:793–819

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydin Y., M. Pennington. 2000. Public participation and local environmental planning: The collective action problem and the potential of social capital. Local Environment 5(2):153–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seguin C., L. C. Pelletier, J. Hunsley 1998. Toward a model of environmental activism. Environment and Behavior 30:628–652

    Google Scholar 

  • Slovic P. (ed). 2000. The Perception of Risk. Risk, Society, and Policy Series, Earthscan Publications, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. 2001. 1998 National Population Health Survey Results. Available at: http://www.statscan.ca (Accessed 12 Feb 2002)

  • Stern P. C. 2000. Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues 56:407–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern P. C., T. Dietz, T. Abel, G. A. Guagnano, L. Kolof. 1999. A value-belief-norm theory of support for social movements: The case of environmental concern. Human Ecology Review 6:81–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Uyeki, E. S. 1999. Environmental beliefs, intended action, and behavior. American Sociological Association (ASA) Association Paper. Washington, DC

  • Vigoda E. 2002. From responsiveness to collaboration: Governance, citizens, and the next generation of public administration. Public Administration Review 62(5):540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vorkinn M., H. Riese. 2001. Environmental concern in a local context: The significance of place attachment. Environment and Behavior 33:249–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakefield S., S. Elliott, D. Cole, J. Eyles. 2001. Environmental risk and (re)action: Air quality, health, and civic involvement in an urban industrial neighbourhood. Health and Place 7:163–177

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walker P. A. 2003. Reconsidering “regional” political ecologies: Toward a political ecology of the rural American West. Progress in Human Geography 27(1):7–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh E., R. Warland, D. C. Smith. 1993. Backyards, NIMBYs, and incinerator sitings: Implications for social movement theory. Social Problems 40:25–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson R.G. 1997. Health inequalities: Relative or absolute material standards? British Medical Journal 314:591–595

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wrigley N. 1985. Categorical data analysis. Longman, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeiss C. 1998. Cause and effect patterns of noxious facility impacts on property values. Journal of Environmental Systems 26:111–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Zelezny L., P. W. Schultz. 2000. Theory and research on environmental attitudes and behavior. Journal of Social Issues 56:365

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) joint doctoral fellowship. Some additional funding was provided by the Hamilton-Wentworth Public Health Department.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Program in Planning , University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3, Canada

    Sarah E. L. Wakefield

  2. School of Geography and Geology/Institute of Environment and Health, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street W., Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 1K4, Canada

    Susan J. Elliott & John D. Eyles

  3. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto , 12 Queen’s Park Crescent W. McMurrich Building, Toronto, Ontario, M5S1A8, Canada

    Donald C. Cole

Authors
  1. Sarah E. L. Wakefield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Susan J. Elliott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John D. Eyles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Donald C. Cole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah E. L. Wakefield.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wakefield, S.E.L., Elliott, S.J., Eyles, J.D. et al. Taking Environmental Action: The Role of Local Composition, Context, and Collective. Environmental Management 37, 40–53 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-004-0323-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-004-0323-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation