IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v106y2025i4ne70059.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Formal Education Levels and Environmental Interest

Author

Listed:
  • Ted Peterson

Abstract

Objective This study investigates the relationship between formal education levels and environmental interest among utility customers, aiming to contribute to the academic understanding of demographic and behavioral differences. Methods Data were collected from a 2022 survey of 1209 utility respondents. The analysis compared respondents with and without a bachelor's degree, examining differences in income, marital status, home tenure, fuel choices, and environmental interest based on survey responses. Results Respondents with a bachelor's degree reported higher incomes, were more likely to be married, older, and had lived longer in their homes compared to non‐bachelor's degree holders, who were more often single. Males were more likely to have higher educational attainment. Lower education levels were associated with greater use of electric heating over natural gas. However, little evidence was found linking formal education level to differences in environmental interest or pro‐environmental behaviors, including energy reduction importance, participation in renewable energy programs, appliance selection preferences, and reported changes in natural gas consumption. Conclusion While demographic and fuel‐use differences were observed between education levels, environmental interest and behaviors did not vary significantly. Further research is recommended to explore factors influencing renewable energy program participation and fuel choices for heating, and to validate these findings, particularly regarding product selection and consumption behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Ted Peterson, 2025. "Formal Education Levels and Environmental Interest," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 106(4), July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:106:y:2025:i:4:n:e70059
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.70059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70059
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.70059?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:106:y:2025:i:4:n:e70059. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.