Determinants of Environmental Perceptions and Attitudes in a Socio-Demographically Diverse Urban Setup: The Case of Gauteng Province, South Africa

Simangele Dlamini, Solomon G. Tesfamichael, Yegnanew Shiferaw and Tholang Mokhele
Additional contact information
Simangele Dlamini: Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
Solomon G. Tesfamichael: Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
Yegnanew Shiferaw: Department of Statistics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
Tholang Mokhele: Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: In environment-nature discourse, determinants of environmental perceptions and attitudes vary significantly making it difficult to draw generalisations on their significance for particular locales. In this paper, we explore the key socio-demographic factors affecting environmental perceptions and attitudes for a socio-economically diverse area of Gauteng province, South Africa, using a generalised ordered logit model (gologit) approach. Personal level variables like gender, education level, employment status, age, population group, migration status and external variables such as dwelling type and electricity availability, obtained through a questionnaire, were assessed as determinants of environmental perceptions and attitudes. Statistical results indicated that dwelling type, gender, education level, place of birth and employment status were strong determinants of environmental attitudes. Population group (Coloured and White), dwelling type, electricity availability, employment status and education level (from primary only up to matric) were found to be significant predictors of environmental perceptions. Education level, dwelling type and employment status were therefore the common explanatory variables from the analysis, giving prominence to material values that people attach to environmental attitudes and perceptions. Age had no influence on both environmental perceptions and attitudes. The results from this article can provide a foundation for segmentation of anthropocentric factors for environmental planning and strategy formulation within the province.

Keywords: generalised ordinal logistic regression; gologit model; environmental attitudes; environmental perceptions; human–nature relationships; GCRO; Gauteng (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 (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/9/3613/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/9/3613/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:9:p:3613-:d:352237

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().