Acculturation, Ethnicity, and Air Pollution Perceptions

Abstract

A globalizing world increases immigration between nations, raising the question of how acculturation (or its lack) of immigrants and their descendants to host societies affects risk perceptions. A survey of Paterson, New Jersey, residents tested acculturation's associations with attitudes to air pollution and its management, and knowledge of and self-reported behaviors concerning air pollution. Linguistic and temporal proxy measures for acculturation were independent variables along with ethnicity, plus controls for gender, age, education, and income in multivariate analyses. About one-fifth of contrasts between non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, English-interviewed Hispanics, and Spanish-interviewed Hispanics were statistically significant (Bonferroni-corrected) and of medium or higher affect size, with most featuring the Spanish-interviewed Hispanics. Knowledge variables featured the most significant differences. Specifically, Spanish-interviewed Hispanics reported less concern, familiarity with pollution, recognition of high pollution, and vigorous outdoor activity, and greater belief that government overregulates pollution than English-interviewed Hispanics (and than the other two groups on most of these variables too). English-interviewed Hispanics did not differ from non-Hispanic whites, but did on several variables from non-Hispanic blacks. Temporal proxies of acculturation among the foreign-born were far less significant, but concern and familiarity with air pollution increased with time spent in the United States, while belief in overregulation and a positive trend in New Jersey pollution increased with time in the nation of origin. Implications of these acculturation and ethnicity findings for risk perception/communication research and practice are discussed.

Understanding ethnic differences in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours: a study of domestic water use in Sydney

“…Awareness about water issues is likely to contribute to a rise of positive attitudes and behavioural intentions towards water use and conservation (Dolnicar, Hurlimann & Grün, 2012;Dolnicar, Hurlimann & Nghiem, 2010;Trumbo & O'Keefe, 2005); to further develop efficacy of water management initiatives (Moy, 2012); and to facilitate supportive attitudes towards water management policies (Dolnicar & Hurlimann, 2009;Dolnicar, Hurlimann & Grün, 2011). However, language difference is potentially a barrier to familiarity with local environmental issues among non-English speaking communities (Department of Environment and Conservation, 2005;Johnson, 2011), which is expected to contribute to the ethnic difference in water attitudes and behaviour.…”

Hispanics’ Behavioral Intentions Toward Energy Conservation: The Role of Sociodemographic, Informational, and Attitudinal Variables

“…The process of acculturation suggests that individuals who migrate, or those whose family has migrated and are raised in a culture different than the dominant culture, will create hybrid cultures from a melding of the dominant and their own culture (Archuleta, ; Cabassa, ). The study of acculturation among Hispanics and its effect on various forms of behaviors (e.g., health) has received continued focus throughout the years, but with limited attention to environmental issues (Johnson, ). What is clear is that the way immigrants and their children adapt to the dominant culture can have an effect on the ways in which they think about environmentalism, and how they behave.…”

“…Previous studies, though limited, have found important differences in environmental attitudes between Hispanics and the general U.S. population. Some studies suggest that Hispanics have a different worldview, hold stronger collectivist and egalitarian values than other ethnic groups, and that they have a stronger connection to the land and nature (Carter, Silva, and Guzmán, ; Johnson, ; Johnson, Bowker, and Cordell, ). In addition, a survey by the Pew Research Center found Hispanics report higher levels than whites on beliefs about the role of human activity in global warming (70 percent vs. 44 percent) (Krogstad, ).…”

Living in a foreign country: the meaning of place of origin and gender for risk perceptions, experiences, and behaviors

“…Previous research of risk perception among migrants can be categorized into three streams of research: (i) studies of the interaction between acculturation and perception (Johnson 2011;Yong et al 2016), which also includes risk behavior, particularly in relation to specific risks (Shedlin, Decena, and Oliver-Velez 2005), but has been questioned because of tendencies of ethnic stereotyping (Hunt, Schneider, and Comer 2004); (ii) studies of migrants' perceptions of risk with the aim to better understand particular cohorts of migrants (e.g., migrant workers, perception of risk (Ahonen et al 2009), or population variation in risk perception (Olofsson and € Ohman 2015;Yong et al 2017), sometimes to enhance risk communication efficiency (Vaughan 1995; Garcia-Retamero and Dhami 2011); and (iii) studies of the link between experiences of migration and risk perception (Vega, Kolody, and Valle 1987). The methods applied are diverse, but quantitative analyses of survey data as well as epidemiological and other health-related statistics dominate.…”