POLLUTION-CONTROL AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITIZENS

By conducting a questionnaire study (N = 518) it was examined, how the following three groups of variables are motivated: First, varied form s of the willingness to protect air quality (e, g., accepting personal inconveniences or fina326ncial costs), second, the willingness to tak e part in activities for interests which are potentially harmful for t he quality of the air(e. g., supporting motorsports), and third, the a ttribution of ecological responsibility. - The results are based on va riables which are thoroughly controlled in methodological respect. The findings report that the attribution of ecological responsibility to the citizen as well as the acceptance of actual responsibility regardi ng a willingness to protect air quality is not a question of personal exposure to air pollution in ones own environment. Instead, the regres sion analyses revealed that the criterions are predicted very precisel y by variables, which all affect moral judgements (like for example, t he perceived severity of air pollution in general, attribution of the causes of air pollution, acceptance of arguments against pollution con trol, or indignation that there is not enough pollution control).