Araştırma Makalesi

Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe

Cilt: 23 Sayı: 2026 14 Eylül 2026
PDF İndir
TR EN

Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe

Öz

Existing literature extensively explores the relationship between climate change perceptions and environmental values; however, these studies predominantly use variable-centered approaches, which often overlook unobservable individual differences. This study addresses this gap by identifying latent classes among respondents from participating countries based on their climate change perceptions, perceived personal responsibility, and environmental value orientations. We analyzed data from the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 11 integrated file, Edition 4.2, with a final complete-case analytic sample of 44,338 respondents from 30 countries (29 European countries and Israel). Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), we applied five indicator variables representing concern about climate change, perceived personal responsibility, beliefs about climate change causes, and environmental values. We also employed the R3STEP approach to assess the associations of age, gender, and educational attainment with latent class membership. Our findings identified three latent profiles among respondents from participating countries, characterized by varying levels of climate change concern, environmental value orientations, and perceived personal responsibility. These profiles exhibited graded differences, particularly in climate change concern and perceived personal responsibility, reflecting heterogeneity in climate-related attitudes and value orientations. Moreover, the automatic R3STEP procedure indicated that gender, age group, and educational attainment were each significantly associated with latent profile membership after adjustment for the other demographic covariates. Overall, these results indicate substantial heterogeneity in climate change perceptions and environmental values within the pooled ESS Round 11 analytic sample and demonstrate the usefulness of a person-centered approach for characterizing this heterogeneity.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Climate change concern, environmental responsibility, environmental values, latent class analysis, european social survey, person-centered approach

Destekleyen Kurum

This study received no external funding

Etik Beyan

This study is of a nature that does not require ethics committee approval.

Kaynakça

  1. Arndt, C., Halikiopoulou, D., & Vrakopoulos, C. (2023). The centre-periphery divide and attitudes towards climate change measures among Western Europeans. Environmental Politics, 32(3), 381–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2022.2075155
  2. Bouman, T., Verschoor, M., Albers, C. J., Böhm, G., Fisher, S. D., Poortinga, W., Whitmarsh, L., & Steg, L. (2020). When worry about climate change leads to climate action: How values, worry and personal responsibility relate to various climate actions. Global Environmental Change, 62, 102061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102061
  3. Bradley, G. L., Babutsidze, Z., Chai, A., & Reser, J. P. (2020). The role of climate change risk perception, response efficacy, and psychological adaptation in pro-environmental behavior: A two nation study. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 68, 101410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101410
  4. Clark, S. L., & Muthén, B. (2009). Relating latent class analysis results to variables not included in the analysis. Dunlap, R. E., & Van Liere, K. D. (1978). The “New Environmental Paradigm.” The Journal of Environmental Education, 9(4), 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.1978.10801875
  5. Dunlap, R. E., Van Liere, K. D., Mertig, A. G., & Jones, R. E. (2000). New Trends in Measuring Environmental Attitudes: Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00176
  6. European Commission. (2023). Special Eurobarometer 538: Climate Change.
  7. European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure (ESS ERIC). (2026). ESS11—Integrated file, edition 4.2 [Data set]. Sikt—Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.21338/ess11e04_2
  8. Kácha, O., Vintr, J., & Brick, C. (2022). Four Europes: Climate change beliefs and attitudes predict behavior and policy preferences using a latent class analysis on 23 countries. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 81, 101815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101815
  9. Kaminska, O. (2020). Guide to Using Weights and Sample Design Indicators with ESS Data Contents. www.europeansocialsurvey.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/ESS_weighting_data_1_1.pdf?
  10. Karp, D. G. (1996). Values and their Effect on Pro-Environmental Behavior. Environment and Behavior, 28(1), 111–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916596281006

Kaynak Göster

APA
Arcagök, U. (2026). Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe. OPUS Journal of Society Research, 23(2026), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1977255
AMA
1.Arcagök U. Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe. OPUS TAD. 2026;23(2026):1-26. doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1977255
Chicago
Arcagök, Uğur. 2026. “Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe”. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23 (2026): 1-26. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1977255.
EndNote
Arcagök U (01 Eylül 2026) Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23 2026 1–26.
IEEE
[1]U. Arcagök, “Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe”, OPUS TAD, c. 23, sy 2026, ss. 1–26, Eyl. 2026, doi: 10.26466/opusjsr.1977255.
ISNAD
Arcagök, Uğur. “Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe”. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23/2026 (01 Eylül 2026): 1-26. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1977255.
JAMA
1.Arcagök U. Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe. OPUS TAD. 2026;23:1–26.
MLA
Arcagök, Uğur. “Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe”. OPUS Journal of Society Research, c. 23, sy 2026, Eylül 2026, ss. 1-26, doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1977255.
Vancouver
1.Uğur Arcagök. Beyond Climate Change Acceptance: Latent Profiles of Environmental Values, Concern and Responsibility in Europe. OPUS TAD. 01 Eylül 2026;23(2026):1-26. doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1977255