ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Effect of Social Class Cognition and Public
Service Satisfaction on Pro-Environmental
Behavior in China
More details
Hide details
1
Business School, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225127, China
2
Research Center for Government Governance and Public Policy, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225127, China
Submission date: 2023-12-13
Final revision date: 2024-01-21
Acceptance date: 2024-03-24
Online publication date: 2024-06-28
Corresponding author
Yu Zhang
Business School, Yangzhou University, 225127, Yangzhou, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Although people have extensively studied the influencing factors of pro-environmental behaviors
(PEBs) on individuals and society, there is still a lack of a unified and reasonable explanation among
individuals, society, and nature. We explore the relationship among social class cognition (SCC), public
service satisfaction (PSS), environmental risk perception (ERP), media use (MU), and citizens’ PEBs.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for evaluating the causal chain from SCC, PSS to citizens’
PEBs in the Chinese General Social Survey 2013 (CGSS2013, n=673), and the mediating role of ERP
in the transition from SCC, PSS to citizens’ PEBs. The results show that SCC and PSS significantly
influence citizens’ PEBs. From the perspective of impact mechanism, ERP plays an important
mediating role in the impact path of SCC and PSS on citizens’ PEBs. ERP is constantly spread, diffused,
and enhanced by MU, and contributes to the formation of citizens’ PEBs. This research is helpful to get
a reasonable explanation of PEBs in individual-society-nature, and thus break the boundary between
the private sphere and the public sphere to form an environmental governance pattern of co-construction,
co-governance, and sharing.