Abstract
Two major explanations of the well-documented inverse relationship between age and environmental concern have been suggested: 1) the differences are due to the socio-biological process of aging, or 2) important historical events have affected birth cohorts differently. Palmore's (1978) method is used in this study to distinguish possible aging, cohort, and (additionally) period effects explaining time series differences by age groups in the General Social Survey data. The analysis suggests that the decline in environmental concern among most age groups can be accounted for by period effects, but that an aging effect is important among young adults. Implications for environmental education are discussed.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: