The Relationship between Epistemic Style, Environmental Knowledge, Trust in Environmental Scientists and Environmental Behaviour

The present research aimed to examine the effects of individual's epistemic style on environmental knowledge, trust in environmental scientists, and subsequently pro-environmental behaviour. The study was comprised of 149 participants who completed an online questionnaire utilising measures of epistemic style, trust, knowledge and behaviour. Epistemic style was assessed by the Epistemic Preference Indicated (EPI; Eigenberger, Critchley & Sealander’s, 2007) which measured two negatively related dimensions named the Intellective Position (IP; a preference for elaborated forms of thinking) and the Default Position (DP; a preference for automatic forms of thinking). The results supported the hypothesis that having a preference for the IP would positively predict environmental knowledge and subsequently high levels of pro-environmental behaviour while having a preference for the DP would negatively predict environmental knowledge, and subsequently low levels of pro-environmental behaviour. Contrary to expectations, differences in epistemic style were not predictive of trust in environmental scientists, however trust in environmental scientists did predict pro-environmental behaviour. Suggestions for future research include exploration of ways in which a preference for the DP could be shifted to a preference for the IP to encourage pro-environmental outcomes in conjunction with assessing the generalisability of the current results to other forms of pro-social behaviour.