Kristin Gibson, a doctoral student in the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication program at the University of Georgia, recently published an article exploring the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on environmental engagement among United States residents. The article, published in Frontiers in Environmental Science, is part of a larger project examining opinions on information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coauthors on the project included Katie Sanders, Dr. Alexa Lamm, and Dr. Kevan Lamm.
The study examined if education level, political affiliation, political ideology, social media sources, news sources, and knowledge of environmental changes predicted United States residents’ intention to engage in environmental behaviors. The study found factors that predicted intention to engage in environmental behaviors included education level, political ideology, and social media sources used. Political affiliation, news sources used, and knowledge of environmental changes were not significant predictors of intention to engage in environmental behaviors. Considering the positive influence of social media on intention and the lack of effect from knowledge, the study posed the question “is exposure to sensationalized environmental benefits from overzealous media sources more beneficial in encouraging environmental engagement than factual environmental impact information?” (p. 11).
Read the entire published article in Frontiers in Environmental Science here.
