title: How perceived exposure to environmental harm influences environmental behavior in urban China.
abstract: Rapid environmental degradation in China makes understanding how perceived exposure to environmental harm influences environmental attitudes and participation in pro-environmental behaviors among the Chinese people crucial. We used a nation-wide survey dataset in urban China to test two hypotheses: experiencing environmental harm directly affects environmental behavior; environmental attitudes mediate the relationship between experiencing environmental harm and environmental behavior. We found respondents who experienced environmental harm had more pro-environmental attitudes. Experiencing environmental harm positively influenced pro-environmental behavior both directly and indirectly through the mediation of pro-environmental attitudes. Among the pro-environmental behaviors, environmental litigation was most strongly related with exposure to environmental harm. Our results suggest that more participation in pro-environmental behaviors may be expected as rapid economic development increases public exposure to environmental harm in urban China.
authors: Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. chenxd@email.unc.edu
authors: Xiaodong
authors: X
authors: Chen
authors: M Nils
authors: MN
authors: Peterson
authors: Vanessa
authors: V
authors: Hull
authors: Chuntian
authors: C
authors: Lu
authors: Dayong
authors: D
authors: Hong
authors: Jianguo
authors: J
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004782:Environmental Health; D014505:Urban Population