Who Cares for Nature in Rural Areas? Exploration of Relationships between People’s Socio-Economic Characteristics and the Perception of Nature as a Value in Poland and Lithuania

Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska, Gintarė Vaznonienė () and Bernardas Vaznonis
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Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS), Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Gintarė Vaznonienė: Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, Universitetas Str. 10, Akademija, LT-53361 Kaunas, Lithuania
Bernardas Vaznonis: Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, Universitetas Str. 10, Akademija, LT-53361 Kaunas, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-23

Abstract: Care for nature is becoming one of the most popular topics in the scientific discourse, not only from an environmental perspective, but also in terms of strengthening people’s environmental awareness and implementing sustainable development goals. The knowledge and understanding of rural inhabitants’ attitude towards nature and their pro-environmental behaviors based on socio-economic characteristics have been less studied compared to those of urban inhabitants. The research aim is to determine the rural inhabitants’ socio-economic characteristics that influence their care for nature in Poland and Lithuania. The European Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 (2008) and Round 9 (2018) data were used in the present study. The relationships between the rural residents’ attitudes towards nature and the socio-economic variables were assessed using the chi-square test and Cramer’s V measure. The findings have suggested that the importance of nature as a value in Poland is greater than in Lithuania. Different sets of statistically significant socio-economic variables were identified in the studied countries. The research has confirmed that gender and education play an important role in the attitude towards nature, as women and more educated people tend to care more for the environment.

Keywords: nature; rural areas; rural inhabitants; socio-economic characteristics; Poland; Lithuania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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