Completed projects

Environmental attitudes and behavior

The relationship between environmental awareness and environmental behavior is often the subject of environmental sociology research. This research explores whether and to what extent environmental attitudes are reflected in environmentally relevant behavior. A common finding is that people do behave in an environmentally conscious manner, provided that this does not result in (or only minimal) additional costs. The question of how exactly this relationship works arises time and again in various contexts. So how can the interaction between attitudes, costs, and behavior be modeled?

In this context, the term "environmental justice" is increasingly being used to describe the relationship between those affected by environmental pollution and those responsible for it. The fact that those responsible for environmental pollution are not necessarily those affected by its consequences may hinder the successful reduction of environmental pollution. But under what conditions can effective environmental protection measures still gain broad support? What role do monetary and non-monetary costs or individual benefits from such measures play in this context?

An important aspect of environmentally relevant behavior is the choice of transport mode. One focus of the project is to investigate mobility behavior and related attitudes. What factors influence the choice of environmentally friendly transport modes? Does environmental awareness contribute to increased use of public transport? What attitudes exist toward measures to reduce road traffic-related environmental pollution in city centers, such as the introduction of a city toll?

A survey of the general population in Bavaria and Saxony was recently conducted (December 2022), which asked about environmental attitudes, concerns about high energy prices, and other aspects relevant to environmental policy. We are currently still evaluating the results.

In July 2022, we also conducted a survey of the general population on their use of and attitudes toward the €9 ticket:

• How often and for what purposes do respondents use the €9 ticket?
• Are journeys that were previously made by car actually being replaced?
• What obstacles remain to the use of buses and trains?

In addition, attitudes and perceptions of fairness regarding different lifestyles that are more or less climate-friendly are being surveyed, as well as the willingness to change individual behavior. An initial paper on this topic is currently under review.

Robustness of Multifactorial Survey Experiments

Multifactorial survey experiments are increasingly considered established in various social science disciplines. The possibility of using experimentally varied stimuli in broad population surveys makes these methods interesting for a wide range of different questions. In practical application, however, the specific design varies considerably. For example, different presentation formats (vignettes presented in continuous text or profile cards presented in tabular form) are used, dimensions of interest are presented in different orders, and possible characteristics (levels) are varied to different degrees. The aim of the project is to investigate the possible effects of such aspects of stimulus presentation.

The data is based on a multifactorial survey experiment conducted in early summer 2018 on support for a city toll in Munich. In addition to dimensions of substantial interest (such as the extent of the expected air quality improvements or the amount of the fees to be paid), various aspects of the presentation of the hypothetical toll models were also varied experimentally. This resulted in data from over 1,300 respondents, who were presented with a total of over 5,300 toll models for evaluation.

Key questions are:

• Do results differ depending on the selected display?
• Do results differ for certain combinations of the varied display aspects?
• Are there any "risk groups" that are particularly susceptible to such methodological effects?