No Measure without Concept. A Critical Review on the Conceptualization and Measurement of Environmental Concern
No Measure without Concept. A Critical Review on the Conceptualization and Measurement of Environmental Concern

Summary/Abstract: Environmental concern is a highly relevant concept in the context of environmental change and increasing demand for political regulation of environmental protection. In order to prevent climate change, loss in global biodiversity or other highly critical environmental issues, we need to understand why (and why not) citizens support environmental politics. However, there is no measure without a concept, and empirical results might be biased if they are not operationalized according to well defined (theoretical and methodological) criteria. This research endeavor focuses on historical and more recent developments of the concept of individual environmental concern. It will be demonstrated that environmental concern is not only a distinct concept excluding behavior and knowledge, but is also rather complex addressing geographical as well as temporal issues. Most recent developments suggesting a hierarchical multi-dimensional character will be discussed and examples of the most relevant empirical measures and scales will be evaluated.

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