Zeng, S.; Wu, L.; Liu, T. Religious Identity and Public Pro-Environmental Behavior in China: The Mediating Role of Environmental Risk Perception. Religions2020, 11, 165.
Zeng, S.; Wu, L.; Liu, T. Religious Identity and Public Pro-Environmental Behavior in China: The Mediating Role of Environmental Risk Perception. Religions 2020, 11, 165.
Zeng, S.; Wu, L.; Liu, T. Religious Identity and Public Pro-Environmental Behavior in China: The Mediating Role of Environmental Risk Perception. Religions2020, 11, 165.
Zeng, S.; Wu, L.; Liu, T. Religious Identity and Public Pro-Environmental Behavior in China: The Mediating Role of Environmental Risk Perception. Religions 2020, 11, 165.
Abstract
Although the positive relationship between religion and environmental behavior is well-argued, empirical research about the relationship between religion and public pro-environmental behavior is relatively lacking. This paper aims to explore the group differences in the influence of religion on public pro-environmental behavior and the mediating role of environmental risk perception in religion and public pro-environmental behavior. Using the Chinese General Social Survey data in 2013 for empirical analysis, this study’s results show that there are group differences in the impact of religion on public pro-environmental behavior. Women with religious beliefs are more willing to engage in public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. Religious believers over the age of 45 are more willing to participate in public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. Political participants with religious beliefs are more willing to practice public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. In addition, we found that environmental risk perception can act as partial mediation in religious and public pro-environmental behavior. In other words, religious beliefs are deeply embedded in local political and social culture. In order to correctly understand the relationship between religion and public pro-environmental behavior, it is necessary to consider religion in a specific cultural background.
Keywords
Religious beliefs; Public pro-environmental behavior; Environmental risk perception; China
Subject
Social Sciences, Religion
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
