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Who worries about microplastics? The relative importance of personal values and individual risk judgements / ¿A quién le preocupan los microplásticos? La importancia relativa de los valores personales y los juicios individuales de riesgo
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Researchers surveyed nearly 700 people in Norway to understand what drives public worry about microplastic pollution. They found that personal values and individual risk perceptions were the strongest predictors of concern, more so than demographic factors or general environmental attitudes. The study suggests that communication strategies about microplastic risks should account for how people personally evaluate threats rather than relying solely on scientific information.
An online survey was distributed to a national sample of the Norwegian public ( N = 699) to investigate factors associated with the extent to which people worry about microplastics. Respondents were asked about their familiarity with and the extent to which they worry about the issue, after which they answered a battery of questions about their perceptions of risk and personal values. Microplastics were judged to be moderately known, somewhat uncontrollable, very threatening to humankind, and even more so to plants and animals. Perceived personal threat was lower than that to plants, animals and humankind. Regression analyses predicted worry about microplastics from sociodemographic variables and personal values, and from different aspects of people’s risk perceptions. Gender, age group, education level, and endorsing self-transcendence over self-enhancement values predicted greater worry, yet these variables were not significantly associated when risk perceptions were included in the regression model. These findings shed further light on how individual risk judgements can explain self-reported levels of worry about microplastics, beyond individual differences in personal values.
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An empirical assessment of worry about microplastics among the Norwegian public
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Researchers surveyed 699 Norwegian adults online about their familiarity with and worry about microplastics, along with risk perception components including controllability, threat level, and personal values. Women and older respondents reported higher worry, and those endorsing self-transcendence values showed greater concern, though these demographic and value associations became non-significant once risk perception variables were included in the regression model.
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