A STUDY ON THE CORRELATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN AND AGE By Sam West

The Problem of Environmentalism The Demographics effect what policy is set in place. Often Extreme views are most represented (i.e. lobbies) Most people have NO real opinion on environmental policy

Background information  The Underling information on the town of Southeast  Pop 18,070. Average age 37.5 Median household income was $70,830 (as of 2009)  Voted largely conservative in last election

Hypothesis  The theory that was projected prior to the experiment was that age would in fact have a large effect on environmental opinion and concern. Age would have such a large effect on the outcome

About the Data Collection  Data Collected at the Atlantic and Pacific Tea company and Brewster High School  Ages Between 15 and 62  Most were Employed  Low amount of responses  All Results kept confidential (Human reassurance)

Survey  Questionnaire:  This is a Study that is based around your environmental attitudes. We would like to know how you feel about the environment. We are also asking you about the demographics of your age, your occupation, and the place that you reside. Answering these question’s will not take more than a few minutes of your time. All answer’s given will remain confidential.  Age:______  Occupation (If any):_________  Area where you reside:_________  Place a number from 1 to 10 in the blank provided (1 being the lowest level of concern, 10 being the highest of your concern).  How important are issues that concern threat’s to the environment in your life?______  How important is the threat of Global Warming to your life______  To what extent are you involved in preventing Global Warming?______  Do you feel threatened by rising sea level?______  Were you upset by the BP oil disaster (1 being not at all effected, 10 strongly effected)?______  Does the threat of overfishing (i.e. salmon, swordfish, cod) prevent you from buying fish as a meal?_____  Does Large Scale Deforestation concern you (clear cutting)?______  Does Disruption of local Ecology (building of houses and roads) concern you?______  Do you care about the stability of the of the local ecology (i.e. invasive species)?______  Are you concerned about Algae blooms in your local watershed?______   Please List bellow what your most concerned about related  1)  2)  3)  4)  5) 

Procedure  Created Survey  Placed Survey in Teachers lounge  Placed Survey in several student hands (and made sure they responded)  Placed survey near front desk in the A&P  Collected all data that was available

Data Collected  Most rank high in concern in Climate change  They Ranked low on tangible damages to the environment  Most were employed

Conclusion  Had strong concern in few area’s except for the most published one’s  Age does not have an effect on the overall concern of each individual  Level of income does not have a major impact

References   Grob, Alexander. A Structural Model of Environmental Attitudes and Behavior. Journal  of Environmental Psychology (1995).  Fuji, Satoshi. Environmental concern, attitude toward frugality, and ease of behavior  as determinants of pro-environmental behavior intentions. Journal of Environmental  Pyschology (1998).  Steel, Brent. Thinking globally and acting locally?: environmental attitudes  and behavior. Journal of Environmental Management (1996).   Thelen, Eva. The role of a dominant social paradigm. Journal of Business Research (2000).