Are we a growing a green generation? Exploring young people’s pro-environmental orientation over time
Alice Grønhøj, Marco Hubert
Abstract
Young people are key actors in the transition to more sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns. Therefore, it is important to understand how environmental values and behaviours change in the transition from youth to young adulthood. In this paper, we trace the development of a pro-environmental orientation from late adolescence through emergent adulthood to young adulthood in a longitudinal survey study that included a cohort of young Danish people born between 1987 and 1992, aged 16–20 in the first study and 30–34 in 2021. The main objective is to explore whether and in which direction the pro-environmental orientation of this cohort changed during late adolescence through emergent and young adulthood. We assess whether the observed changes derive from developmental, cohort or period effects. Overall, we see a weakening of pro-environmental values and attitudes, while the frequencies of pro-environmental behaviours are increasing.