Social Identity and Risk Perception Explain Participation in the Swiss Youth Climate Strikes

Adrian Brügger, Moritz Gubler, Katharine Steentjes and Stuart B. Capstick
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Adrian Brügger: Department of Consumer Behaviour, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Moritz Gubler: Institute for Research, Development and Evaluation, Bern University of Teacher Education, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Katharine Steentjes: Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
Stuart B. Capstick: Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-17

Abstract: Since late 2018, young people around the world have united to demand greater action on climate change. Aside from their stated concerns and demands, however, very little is known about why young people have been joining this growing movement. Using a large sample ( N = 4057) of people in Switzerland aged between 14 and 25, we show that social identity is most strongly associated with participation, followed by beliefs about the effectiveness of youth strikes, level of education, and worry about climate change. Our findings affirm the relevance of both climate change risk perceptions and social identity-related processes for collective climate change action, and pave the way for promising opportunities in theory development and integration. The study also provides lessons for those who seek to maintain and increase collective action on climate change: concern about climate change is an important motivating factor, but social identity processes are at least as relevant for young people’s participation.

Keywords: climate change; Fridays for Future; youth climate strikes; collective action; social movements; social identity; risk perception (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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