Thesis
THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
01/2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004420
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/120114
Abstract
This study examines two streams of scholarship on environmental concern – differences between urban and rural populations and cross-national comparative work – to determine how concern about the biophysical environment compares across rural and urban places in 35 countries. Previous scholarship on the subject notes that variance in environmental concern is correlated with demographic factors such as age, gender, education and rural or urban residence. However, the study of the latter – the effect of residency on environmental concern – has been largely limited to studies focusing on these dynamics within one country. The focal point of this research is the comparison of rural and urban populations’ concern for the environment in an international context. I use data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) to compare perspectives on environmental concerns across the rural-urban continuum in thirty-five countries. Seven countries show statistically significant differences in concern for the environment between urban and rural populations. This study confirms that – with respect to environmental concern – the rural-urban divide is pervasive across continents. Further, this research sets the groundwork for future scholarship to explore the contexts that lead to differences in environmental concern across the rural-urban divide and countries.
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Details
- Title
- THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
- Creators
- Michelle Olson Weston
- Contributors
- Dylan E. Bugden (Advisor)Jennifer Sherman (Committee Member)Erik Johnson (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Sociology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 44
- Identifiers
- 99900883239301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis