Table of Contents

Contents:

Preface xi
Introduction to the Research Handbook on Environmental Sociology 1
Axel Franzen and Sebastian Mader

PART I CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
1 The development of global CO2 emissions 5
Axel Franzen and Sebastian Mader
2 Prices, income and energy demand 27
Brantley Liddle and Hillard Huntington
3 Consistent inequality across Germany? Exploring spatial heterogeneity
in the unequal distribution of air pollution 46
Tobias Rüttenauer and Henning Best

PART II MEASUREMENT, DESCRIPTION AND PRECEDENTS OF
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
4 Testing the measurement of environmental concern: how do single
items perform in comparison to multi-item scales? 68
Axel Franzen and Sebastian Mader
5 The evolution of environmental concern in Europe 84
John Kenny
6 Where do pro-environmental tendencies fit within a taxonomy of
personality traits? 102
Taciano L. Milfont
7 Climate change knowledge, meta-knowledge and beliefs 122
Helen Fischer and Karlijn Van den Broek

PART III THE DETERMINANTS OF PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR
8 Environmental behavior: measurement approaches and determining factors 140
Peter Preisendörfer and Andreas Diekmann
9 Non-monetary incentives and energy conservation 157
Ulf Liebe
10 The collective risk social dilemma 174
Manfred Milinski
11 Heating system choice among Swiss households: determinants and
effects of policy counterfactuals 194
Patrick Bigler and Doina Radulescu
12 Is socially responsible investing (SRI) in stocks a competitive capital
investment? A review of the literature and a comparative analysis based
on the performance of sustainable stocks 223
Ann-Kathrin Blankenberg and Jonas F.A. Gottschalk

PART IV ACCEPTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES
13 Public support for climate policy 244
Stefan Drews
14 Climate change denial among the general public: studying individual
and contextual determinants in Europe 257
Christiane Lübke
15 What determines the attitude–behavior link when voting on renewable
energy policies? The roles of problem perception and policy design 275
Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen and Philippe Thalmann
16 Support for city road tolls: a question of self-interest? 298
Fabian Thiel
17 Beyond political divides: analyzing public opinion on carbon taxation
in Switzerland 320
Laurent Ott, Mehdi Farsi and Sylvain Weber

Index

About the Author

Edited by Axel Franzen and Sebastian Mader, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern, Switzerland

Reviews

‘Climate change is humankind’s ultimate challenge. It is our behaviour that is causing the climate disaster, because our ancestors were selected to turn resources maximally into offspring. Our evolved heritage are ruthless harvesting strategies that need to be changed to pro-social, pro-environmental attitudes. Sociology provides the core requirements for solving this problem. Here we learn the most recent results of cutting-edge research on causes, consequences and solutions. This book may help us to survive the challenge.’
*Manfred Milinski, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Germany*