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The Effect of Trust on the Various Dimensions of Climate Change Attitudes

Author

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  • Ákos Bodor

    (Transdanubian Research Department, KRTK Institute for Regional Studies, 7621 Pécs, Hungary)

  • Viktor Varjú

    (Transdanubian Research Department, KRTK Institute for Regional Studies, 7621 Pécs, Hungary)

  • Zoltán Grünhut

    (Transdanubian Research Department, KRTK Institute for Regional Studies, 7621 Pécs, Hungary)

Abstract

The struggle against climate change will not be successful without a sufficient level of collective action. However, a necessary precondition for this is the existence of trust between people. The literature on trust and attitudes to climate change is displaying a growing tendency, and today the results of numerous empirical studies are available. Although, for the time being, on the basis of these studies, we only have a fragmented picture from which it appears that trust is having a significant effect on attitudes to climate change at both the micro and macro levels. The current paper tries to progress on this path and reveal the role of trust in various dimensions of the attitude to climate change using the data of the European Social Survey originating from 22 countries. The results show that while climate change beliefs and climate concern display no relationship with trust, neither on the individual or national level, trust does have a clear effect on the feeling of individual responsibility in connection with climate change and on support for the various policy measures. In addition, it is also investigated whether the effect of trust can be shown to exist in the relationships between climate concern and the feeling of individual responsibility, and climate concern and policy support. The results show that in both cases the relationship is stronger in those countries characterized by a higher level of social trust.

Suggested Citation

  • Ákos Bodor & Viktor Varjú & Zoltán Grünhut, 2020. "The Effect of Trust on the Various Dimensions of Climate Change Attitudes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:10200-:d:457949
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Matias Spektor & Guilherme N. Fasolin & Juliana Camargo, 2023. "Climate change beliefs and their correlates in Latin America," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Martin, Gina & Cosma, Alina & Roswell, Tasha & Anderson, Martin & Treble, Matthew & Leslie, Kathleen & Card, Kiffer G. & Closson, Kalysha & Kennedy, Angel & Gislason, Maya, 2023. "Measuring negative emotional responses to climate change among young people in survey research: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    3. Gábor László Vasárus & József Lennert, 2022. "Suburbanization within City Limits in Hungary—A Challenge for Environmental and Social Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.

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