Working Hard for the Environment: When Will Citizens Engage in Environmental Activism?

Fielding KS¹*, McDonald R¹ and Louis WR²

1. School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
2. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

Although studies suggest that the majority of people in western society have some awareness of the consequences humans are having on the natural environment, environmental organisations and grassroots campaigners often struggle to harness active support. One explanation advanced for this lack of engagement is that people feel as if they cannot make a difference. Yet there exist countless examples across many nations of the success of people power in preventing environmental degradation. Alternatively, it is argued that people may ‘free ride’ and thus benefit from the efforts of others to change the situation for the better. Although this perspective is useful in understanding the tendency of people not to participate, it does not shed light on the factors that differentiate those who do act from those who choose to ‘free ride’. Developing an understanding of how to engage community members in environmental activism is crucial in achieving the goal of increasing community engagement in environmental activism. This issue was investigated using a social-psychological model of decision-making. Seventy-one environmental group members and 96 non-members completed a questionnaire assessing the model constructs. Results show that attitudes, self-identity as an activist, past environmental activism, and group membership were all significant predictors of intentions to engage in environmental activism. The results also showed that the influence of attitudes and past engagement in environmental activism was moderated by environmental group membership. Practical implications of the results for engaging community members in environmental organisations are discussed.

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