Differential Responses to Air Pollution as an Environmental Health Problem

Abstract

This paper presents a possible theoretical explanation of why people differentially perceive a problem such as air pollution. The theory of cognitive dissonance was tested and found to be a good predictor of behavior at least in the situations described in this study. It was found that individuals who are highly dependent economically on a source of air pollution (representing a cognitively dissonant situation) tended to be much less concerned with a local air pollution problem and similarly considered the pollution control efforts of the supposed major source to be substantially greater than did comparably non-dependent persons in the same community. Controls for age, sex, and education were used and, while providing some interesting subgroup comparisons, had very little effect on the basic study relationships.