A general explanation for environmental policy support: An example using carbon taxation approval in Germany

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

In democratic societies, public support is crucial for the success of climate change mitigation policies. In this article, we present a parsimonious explanation—grounded in the Campbell paradigm—for explicit approval of environmental policies based on two forces: (a) an individual's commitment to environmental protection (i.e., people's environmental attitudes) and (b) the figurative costs entailed by a specific policy. We tested this model with carbon tax variants and data from German samples from four different sociocultural conditions (Ntotal = 8,166). The results showed that only a minority (36%) were sufficiently committed to environmental protection to approve of a carbon tax regardless of its specific details. Even the most favorable tax level and use of revenue achieved an approval rate of only 48%. Regional differences and interactions among the carbon taxation specifications turned out to be negligible. Overall, our results corroborate the generalizability of the proposed environmental policy support model.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102066
JournalJournal of Environmental Psychology
Volume2023
Issue number90
ISSN0272-4944
Publication statusPublished - 2023