IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i11p9071-d1163546.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Association of Religious End Time Beliefs with Attitudes toward Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin S. Lowe

    (Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

  • Susan K. Jacobson

    (Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

  • Glenn D. Israel

    (Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

  • Anna L. Peterson

    (Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

Abstract

Mobilizing communities for environmental sustainability often involves engaging with religious values and beliefs, which can exert powerful influences on the attitudes, norms, and behaviors of the majority of people worldwide. Christianity is the largest world religion and, in some contexts, has also been among the most skeptical of climate and environmental concerns. A popular explanation for this skepticism focuses on eschatological views (i.e., end time beliefs) and posits that if the earth is going to be destroyed someday, there is little point in conserving it now. Empirical evidence is lacking, however, on the extent to which such beliefs actually influence environmental attitudes. We surveyed Christian undergraduate students in the US (N = 1520) and found that belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ was not significantly associated with variables tested regarding biodiversity loss or climate change. Furthermore, a plurality responded that the earth will be renewed at the end (43%), not destroyed (24%), and beliefs about the fate of the earth were generally not related to attitudinal measures—except for a slim minority of respondents with strongest views that the earth will be destroyed—but were significantly associated with political ideology and literalist views of Scripture. These findings suggest that end time views may not be a major obstacle—at least among younger American Christians—to promoting socio-ecological sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin S. Lowe & Susan K. Jacobson & Glenn D. Israel & Anna L. Peterson, 2023. "Association of Religious End Time Beliefs with Attitudes toward Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:9071-:d:1163546
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9071/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9071/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Norman Wirzba, 2023. "The Trouble with Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-5, January.
    2. Roland Daw & Gherardo Girardi & Silvia Riva, 2023. "From Greening to Meaning: Understanding the Content of Catholic Attitudes towards the Ecological Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Delyse Springett & Yamini Narayanan, 2013. "Religion and Sustainable Development: Analysing the Connections," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 131-139, March.
    4. Matthew B. Arbuckle & David M. Konisky, 2015. "The Role of Religion in Environmental Attitudes," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1244-1263, November.
    5. Min Gon Chung & Hana Kang & Thomas Dietz & Patricia Jaimes & Jianguo Liu, 2019. "Activating values for encouraging pro-environmental behavior: the role of religious fundamentalism and willingness to sacrifice," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 9(4), pages 371-385, December.
    6. Long Qian & Feng Li & Xia Zhao & Hongbo Liu & Xiaojie Liu, 2022. "The Association between Religious Beliefs and Food Waste: Evidence from Chinese Rural Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-15, July.
    7. Stephen Chaudoin & David Smith & Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "American evangelicals and domestic versus international climate policy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 441-469, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charles Caldwell & Natalie Probstein & Tanhum Yoreh, 2022. "Shades of green: environmental action in places of worship," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(3), pages 430-452, September.
    2. Sharma, Swati & Ang, James B. & Fredriksson, Per G., 2021. "Religiosity and climate change policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Robin G. Veldman & Dara M. Wald & Sarah B. Mills & David A. M. Peterson, 2021. "Who are American evangelical Protestants and why do they matter for US climate policy?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), March.
    4. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2018. "Which is greener: secularity or religiosity? Environmental philanthropy along religiosity spectrum," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(2), pages 477-502, April.
    5. Adongo, Charles A. & Taale, Francis & Adam, Issahaku, 2018. "Tourists' values and empathic attitude toward sustainable development in tourism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 251-263.
    6. Xixiong Xu & Lingling Duan & Youliang Yan, 2019. "The Influence of Confucianism on Corporate Environmental Investment: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Zhengyan Li & David M. Konisky, 2023. "Personal attributes and (mis)perceptions of local environmental risk," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(1), pages 119-152, January.
    8. Amanda Kennard, 2021. "My Brother’s Keeper: Other-regarding preferences and concern for global climate change," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 345-376, April.
    9. Iyer, S. & Iljina, K. & Shastry, K., 2024. "Religion, Population and the Environment," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2450, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Briguglio, Marie & García-Muñoz, Teresa & Neuman, Shoshana, 2020. "Environmental Engagement, Religion and Spirituality in the Context of Secularization," IZA Discussion Papers 13946, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Roland Daw & Gherardo Girardi & Silvia Riva, 2023. "From Greening to Meaning: Understanding the Content of Catholic Attitudes towards the Ecological Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    12. Boto-García, David & Bucciol, Alessandro, 2020. "Climate change: Personal responsibility and energy saving," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    13. Yalin Mo & Junyu Zhao & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2023. "Religious Beliefs Inspire Sustainable HOPE (Help Ourselves Protect the Environment): Culture, Religion, Dogma, and Liturgy—The Matthew Effect in Religious Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 665-685, May.
    14. Kairui Cao & Weijie Jiang & Laiqun Jin & Yuanyuan Zhu, 2024. "Does Confucian culture reduce firms' pollution emissions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1838-1852, May.
    15. Mercedes Varela-Losada & Pedro Vega-Marcote & María Lorenzo-Rial & Uxío Pérez-Rodríguez, 2021. "The Challenge of Global Environmental Change: Attitudinal Trends in Teachers-In-Training," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, January.
    16. R. Casselman & Linda Sama & Abraham Stefanidis, 2015. "Differential Social Performance of Religiously-Affiliated Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Base of Pyramid (BoP) Markets," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 539-552, December.
    17. Riza Casidy & Denni Arli & Lay Peng Tan, 2024. "The Influence of Religious Identification on Strategic Green Marketing Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(1), pages 215-231, November.
    18. Glen Dowell & Thomas Lyon, 2024. "Beliefs Matter: Local Climate Concerns and Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(3), pages 609-632, October.
    19. Adam T. Jones & Lester Hadsell & Robert T. Burrus, 2019. "Capitalist Views and Religion," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 384-414, June.
    20. Bruno Di Giusto & Joseph Lavallee & Igor Žilák & Yvonne Hu Di Giusto, 2024. "Public Opinion and the Energy Transition in East Asia: The Case of Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-20, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:9071-:d:1163546. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.