Cultural Worldviews and Public Risk Perception Regarding Climate Change in Japan

Abstract

Recently, the value orientations and cultural worldviews concepts have been used increasingly to provide evidence in the research on risk perception and risk communication. However, the reliability of the cultural worldviews as a psychological measure and its impacts in Asian countries remain unclear. This study thus examines the relationship between cultural worldviews and risk perception regarding climate change in Japan. To this end, an online survey of 300 Japanese adults was conducted. The respondents were asked questions regarding risk perception and countermeasures for global warming. The results of path analyses revealed that people with a highly hierarchical cultural worldview perceive a low risk of climate change and engage in behaviors related to mitigation and adaptation for climate change in a limited capacity. However, in Japan, the short version of the individualism–communitarianism scale shows poor reliability. Therefore, further research on this topic is required in the future.