AWARENESS OF BAD-NEWS, ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES, AND SUBJECTIVE ESTIMATES OF COASTAL POLLUTION

Questionnaires distributed to 154 holiday-makers on beaches in Southwe st England assessed awareness of local hazards or incidents associated with either the electricity supply industry or the water and sewage i ndustry and examined the relationship between awareness and evaluation s of the industry, current and future levels of pollution on the beach in question, and general levels of concern about environmental pollut ion. With respect to electricity, those respondents who were more awar e of reports claiming a higher incidence of childhood leukemia in the vicinity of a nearby nuclear plant evaluated the electricity industry as less competent or trustworthy, showed higher levels of environmenta l concern, and were more pessimistic in their estimates of present and future levels of specific pollutants on their beach. With respect to the water industry, similar effects were associated with greater aware ness of an accident at a water treatment plant and agricultural pollut ion of a nearby estuary. These findings are interpreted as suggesting a cyclical relationship between risk awareness and concern. On the one hand, reports about environmental hazards may lead to generalized con cern across specific contexts; on the other hand, greater levels of co ncern may sensitize individuals to such reports.