Knowledge of and policy support for the SDGs: An inverted U-shaped relationship

This study aims to examine the relationship between knowledge of the SDGs and public policy support for the SDGs. By categorizing knowledge into objective and subjective knowledge, we examine the impact of these two types of knowledge on public support. And we further explores the moderating role of public trust in international/environmental organizations and the mediating role of individuals' perceptions of SDGs' relevance. By conducting an online survey in China (n=3089), we analyze the dataset using (generalized) logistic regression model and mediation analysis. This study finds that 1) both individuals' objective and subjective knowledge of SDGs are significantly associated with policy support for SDGs, an inverted U-shaped relationship is identified for objective knowledge, while subjective knowledge and policy support are positively correlated; 2) for publics who trust international/environmental organizations, their support for the SDGs will be boosted by their increased level of knowledge; 3) individuals' perceptions of SDGs' relevance to their personal life mediates the relationship between individual's knowledge of SDGs and policy support for the SDGs. This study applies several sampling and modelling techniques for robustness check. This study extends our understanding of the relationship between knowledge and policy support in the context of the SDGs.