Values, Environmental Beliefs, and Connection With Nature as Predictive Factors of the Pro-environmental Vote in Spain
María del Carmen Aguilar‐Luzón, Beatriz Carmona, Antonia Calvo‐Salguero, Pedro Á. Castillo
Abstract
This research analyzes the predictive capacity of psychosocial variables that can influence the decision to vote for political parties that include pro-environmental measures in their program. To this end, a study was carried out with a sample of 414 people of legal age who could exercise their right to vote (mean age = 26.92, SD = 10.53). The participants were divided into two groups: 1) Pro-environmental voters, those who during the last elections in Spain based their voting decision on whether the political party included pro-environment measures in its electoral program (n = 190), and 2) Non-Pro-environmental voters, those other people who voted for a political party without considering whether pro-environment measures were included in its electoral program (even if such environmental protection measures had been included) (n = 224). The results indicate that, in comparison with their counterparts who do not vote for pro-environmental parties, those who voted for political parties during the last elections by considering the inclusion of pro-environment measures in their electoral program showed the highest scores on the biospheric and socio-altruistic values of ecocentrism, anthropocentrism, connectivity with nature and environmental concern, and scored lower on self-centered values. With the exception of connectivity with nature, biospheric values and beliefs were good predictors of pro-environmental voting behavior.