From Social Representations to Environmental Concern: The Influence of Face-to-Face Versus Mediated Communication

Abstract

A social psychological perspective is adopted in examining the influence of socially shared representations (SR) of environmental issues on individuals' environmental concern (EC). We also consider the influence of the mode of interaction with a source of SR (face-to-face vs. mediated) on the SR-EC relationship. A questionnaire was used to obtain scores for the three components of both SR and EC (environmentally relevant knowledge, values, and intentions), and information about the two social systems with the most influence on personal decision-making. As a guide for responding, the questionnaire presented a scenario in which implementation of a CO2-tax was proposed. The questionnaire was administered to 1371 people distributed between two transportation associations within three Swiss language areas. As sampling strata, transportation association and language area represented different levels of social systems that might influence SR. The social systems which the subjects ranked as most important were categorized with regard to social interaction mode. The results demonstrate that the three SR components are significant predictors of their counterpart EC components. With regard to the impact of social interaction mode on the SR-EC relationship, the results show that face-to-face interaction has a more powerful impact on the formation of values and intentions, whereas mediated interaction is more influential for the knowledge component of EC. Finally, the findings indicate that the transportation association factor is a strong predictor of individuals' EC, whereas language area only marginally conributes to EC when the measured SR factors are partialed out.