How different types of environmentalists are perceived: changing perceptions by the feature

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Environmental Psychology
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Stereotypes of environmentalists act as barriers to public engagement and identification with environmentalism.
• Limited understanding exists regarding specific environmentalist attributes influencing public perception and self-identification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how various attributes of fictional environmentalist profiles impact public perceptions and self-identification.
• To address the knowledge gap concerning the distinct features of environmentalists that shape public opinion.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a conjoint experiment with 678 US residents.
• Analyzed reactions to fictional environmentalist profiles varying in gender, occupation, and pro-environmentalism type.
• Assessed influence on stereotypes (competence, friendliness, trustworthiness), perceived typicality, and self-identification.

Main Results:

• Profiles perceived as more typical environmentalists were described as women, Asian, cleaners or office clerks, politically moderate/liberal, and exhibiting private to moderate environmental behaviors.
• Participants most identified with profiles depicted as women, in cleaner occupations, and exhibiting private pro-environmental behaviors.
• Atypical profile descriptions positively influenced impressions when linked to private pro-environmental behaviors or cleaner occupations.

Conclusions:

• Findings offer insights into impression formation and the use of conjoint analyses in psychological research.
• Provides valuable input for the environmental movement on message framing, considering source and content relative to the audience.