The influence of economic affluence and environmental conditions on an individual's concern for the environment: a Greek case study (2005–2007)

Abstract

This paper tests the impact of economic affluence and objective environmental conditions on an individual's concern for the environment across Greek regions and over time. Our data originate from three nation-wide surveys conducted in Greece between 2005 and 2007 (N = 3592 individuals). By employing a multilevel hierarchical modelling technique, we are able to check for the influence of micro-level and macro-level predictor variables simultaneously. We find that an individual's environmental concern is largely influenced by micro-level variables and, in particular, positively influenced by family income. Macro-level variables, such as community affluence and objective environmental conditions, turned out to be statistically non-significant. Furthermore, we find that the effects of the various predictors on an individual's concern for the environment vary significantly over time and across regions.