Why Do I Act for the Environment? Socioeconomic Status Moderates the Relationship Between Climate Change Beliefs and Sustainable Actions

Effectively responding to climate change requires the participation of all people across a diverse sociocultural spectrum who vary in their psychological processes. Previous research shows that socioeconomic status (SES) influences how strongly individuals’ climate change beliefs are associated with their willingness to support pro-environmental actions. The present research examined the same phenomenon with people’s actual engagement in pro-environmental actions. Two studies tested the hypothesis that the link between climate change beliefs and people’s pro-environmental actions would be stronger among higher SES individuals than lower SES individuals. Study 1 (N= 414) is an online study conducted in the United States where people had to decide whether and how much they would play a game to raise funds for a pro-environmental organization. Study 2 (N= 783) is a field study where consumers’ actual grocery purchases in the United Kingdom were analyzed. In both studies, participants indicated their beliefs about climate change and their income and education level. In both studies, participants’ education level, but not income, moderated the belief and action associations as predicted. This research underscores the importance of considering sociocultural diversity in psychology in making consequential progress in pro-environmental efforts.