IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i23p16486-d1292566.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Social Recognition on Support for Climate Change Mitigation Measures

Author

Listed:
  • Stephanie Jütersonke

    (Department of Sociology, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany)

  • Martin Groß

    (Department of Sociology, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany)

Abstract

Social recognition is introduced as an explanatory factor for support for climate change mitigation measures to complement already existing research. Drawing on social identity theory, it is established that respect emanating from being part of a generation and social class increases support for climate policies through positive influence on self-assessed financial situation, trust in political institutions, generalized trust, and solidarity. Considering the costs and benefits of climate policies, it is assumed that the importance of respect varies between generations and social classes. Analyses are based on data which were collected via online survey (n = 3046) in September and October 2022 that are representative of the German resident population. Results from linear regressions and structural equation modeling corroborate that the influence of social recognition varies between generations and that it operates through the suggested mechanisms. The most important of these mechanisms is the strengthening of solidarity and trust in political institutions by social recognition.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephanie Jütersonke & Martin Groß, 2023. "The Effect of Social Recognition on Support for Climate Change Mitigation Measures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-29, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16486-:d:1292566
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16486/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16486/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Buuren, Stef & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Karin, 2011. "mice: Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 45(i03).
    2. Magnus Bergquist & Andreas Nilsson & Niklas Harring & Sverker C. Jagers, 2022. "Meta-analyses of fifteen determinants of public opinion about climate change taxes and laws," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(3), pages 235-240, March.
    3. Adrienne R. Brown & Lawrence C. Hamilton, 2021. "Interaction effects on support for climate‐change mitigation," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2649-2660, November.
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6d7es28iae9pjoil7092hs41h3 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Samuel Fankhaeser & Friedel Sehlleier & Nicholas Stern, 2008. "Climate change, innovation and jobs," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 421-429, July.
    6. Sara Maestre-Andrés & Stefan Drews & Jeroen van den Bergh, 2020. "Perceived fairness and public acceptability of carbon pricing: a review of the literature," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(9), pages 1186-1204, July.
    7. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6d7es28iae9pjoil7092hs41h3 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
    9. Stefan Drews & Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, 2016. "What explains public support for climate policies? A review of empirical and experimental studies," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(7), pages 855-876, October.
    10. Daniele Malerba, 2022. "The Effects of Social Protection and Social Cohesion on the Acceptability of Climate Change Mitigation Policies: What Do We (Not) Know in the Context of Low- and Middle-Income Countries?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(3), pages 1358-1382, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sterner, Thomas & Ewald, Jens & Sterner, Erik, 2024. "Economists and the climate," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Ewald, Jens & Sterner, Thomas & Sterner, Erik, 2022. "Understanding the resistance to carbon taxes: Drivers and barriers among the general public and fuel-tax protesters," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. Oskar Lindgren & Erik Elwing & Mikael Karlsson & Sverker C. Jagers, 2024. "Public acceptability of climate-motivated rationing," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Hoyle, Aaron & Rhodes, Ekaterina, 2025. "Explaining public support for net-zero climate policy instruments: Perceptions of distributive fairness under competing frames," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    5. Flörchinger, Daniela & Perino, Grischa & Frondel, Manuel & Jarke, Johannes Stephan, 2025. "Let your choice be your voice: Eliciting popular climate policy preferences from decisions with real consequences," Ruhr Economic Papers 1174, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Goerg, Sebastian & Pondorfer, Andreas & Stöhr, Valentina, 2025. "Public support for more ambitious climate policies: Empirical evidence from Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    7. Ejelöv, Emma & Nässén, Jonas & Matti, Simon & Elinder, Liselott Schäfer & Larsson, Jörgen, 2025. "Public and political acceptability of a food tax shift – An experiment with policy framing and revenue use," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    8. Jan Behringer & Lukas Endres & Maike Korsinnek, 2025. "Cost perceptions and the support for carbon pricing," IMK Working Paper 226-2025, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    9. Pitkänen, Atte & von Wright, Tuuli & Kaseva, Janne & Kahiluoto, Helena, 2022. "Distributional fairness of personal carbon trading," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    10. Sommer, Stephan & Konc, Théo & Drews, Stefan, 2023. "How Resilient is Public Support for Carbon Pricing? Longitudinal Evidence from Germany," Ruhr Economic Papers 1017, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Bretter, Christian & Schulz, Felix, 2025. "Public support for climate policies and its ideological predictors across countries of the Global North and Global South," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    12. Dütschke, Elisabeth & Preuß, Sabine & Brunzema, Iska & Piria, Raffaele, 2023. "Using the revenues from carbon pricing - Insights into the acceptance and perceptions of particularly burdened groups," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    13. Kaestner, Kathrin & Sommer, Stephan & Berneiser, Jessica & Henger, Ralph & Oberst, Christian, 2025. "Cost sharing mechanisms for carbon pricing: What drives support in the housing sector?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    14. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    15. Tian, Jianchi & Li, Yang & Sun, Yan & Yang, Bo & Chen, Xuefeng, 2024. "Warming climate apathy to mitigate the disparity in climate policy support across distinct income strata," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6d7es28iae9pjoil7092hs41h3 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Cromwell, Johnathan R. & Harvey, Jean-François, 2025. "A problem half-solved is a problem well-stated: Increasing the rate of innovation through team problem discovery," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(3).
    18. Italo Colantone & Livio Di Lonardo & Yotam Margalit & Marco Percoco, 2022. "The Political Consequences of Green Policies: Evidence from Italy," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 22176, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    19. Ravigné, Emilien & Ghersi, Frédéric & Nadaud, Franck, 2022. "Is a fair energy transition possible? Evidence from the French low-carbon strategy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    20. Bendz, Anna & Bäckstedt, Felix & Harring, Niklas & Martin Persson, U., 2023. "Why do people accept or reject climate policies targeting food consumption? Unpacking justifications in the public debate in online social forums," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    21. Francisco Serranito & Donatella Gatti & Gaye-Del Lo, 2023. "Unpacking the green box: Determinants of Environmental Policy Stringency in European countries," Working Papers hal-04202808, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16486-:d:1292566. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.