Differences In Environmental Behavior

The aim of this essay is to investigate and explain the variance in environmental behaviour making use of key variables from the 2007 DEFRA survey. First, I will briefly introduce the theoretical starting point, namely the theory presented by Ajzen (1985) that environmental behaviour is driven by subjective norms and perceived behavioural control over actions. Second, I will identify important variables, which correlates with one of the main challenges in environmental studies; the issue of pollution as a result of travelling. This will be done by applying simple linear regression in order to model individual level variations in travel distances to work, study and shops. Furthermore, logistic regression will be used to model individual level variations in whether someone took a flight, or not, in the last year. Third,

First, all of the variables correlates significantly with the dependent variable, as shown in Appendix B. Second, it seems reasonable to expect the included variables to explain some variation in the dependent variable for the following reasons: High household income makes it possible for people to travel with the flight. Furthermore, it is expected that, for example, people with a high household income occupies jobs which demand that the travel more (conferences, business trips, etc.). It is expected that people with a disability travel by flight less often than other people. Both because it is more complicated to travel, and because their disability makes their everyday lives more 'stationary'. People in work are expected to travel more, as mentioned above. However, it is possible that, for example, retirees with large savings go on vacation more often than other people.
Furthermore, gender is included as a standard covariate as in the case with the linear regression model. The following table shows the parameter estimates, along with the standard errors and