Green Christians? An Empirical Examination of Environmental Concern Within the U.S. General Public

Abstract

Since the mid-1960s, many scholars have characterized Western Christianity as at odds with environmentalism and ecological values. Yet since the mid-1990s, many observers claim there has been a “greening of Christianity” in the United States. Using nationally representative data from the 2010 General Social Survey, we analyzed how pro-environmental self-identified Christians in the U.S. general public are in their self-reported environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Using structural equation modeling, we find that self-identified Christians report lower levels of environmental concern than do non-Christians. Among Christians, religiosity relates positively to pro-environmental behaviors but not to pro-environmental attitudes or beliefs. These results suggest that this presumed greening of Christianity has not yet translated into a significant greening of pro-environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of rank-and-file Christians in the U.S. general public.

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