ABSTRACT
Since Earth Day, which marked the emergence of environmental protection as a major popular issue, many studies have examined the extent of concern for environmental quality, whether it is growing, and who tends to be most concerned. 1 Most of these studies assume that environmental concern is monolithic, or at least that environmental issues form a logical, interconnected whole in peoples’ minds. Diversity, inconsistency, or contrariety among peoples’ environmental viewpoints are rarely emphasized. Researchers differ, however, as to what associations underlie this comprehensive attitude about the environment. For instance, some authors suggest that the public’s perception of the seriousness of certain pollution problems is directly related to the actual level of pollution that exists. 2 Others believe that the public’s concern with the environment relates less to the objective seriousness of problems than to “triggering” events such as pollution alerts, oil spills, or media specials. 3 Still others identify environmental concern as an extension of liberal social welfare thought and, thus, as part of the partisan and ideological cleavages that exist in American society. 4 Further, many environmental researchers have hypothesized that the environment is like other traditional social issues and divides people in terms of their socioeconomic status. Consequently, they have focused upon the correlation of environmental attitudes with various demographic variables. 5
