Environmental attitudes and environmental awareness action in Hungary

One of the most comprehensive studies allowing the examination of public opinions regarding the environment and environmental protection is the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), which provides insights into the temporal changes in opinions and differences between countries. Within the ISSP framework, the first survey on this topic was conducted in 1993. According to the data from the 1993 survey, Hungary had the lowest proportion of individuals concerned with environmental issues among the 21 countries included in the study (Franzen–Vogl 2013). Nearly three decades later, in 2020, Hungary once again participated in the ISSP's international comparative attitude research on environmental topics. While the proportion of environmentally conscious individuals has somewhat increased during this period, Hungary still ranks among the countries with the lowest values in international comparison (Franzen–Bahr 2024). In terms of environmentally conscious actions, a temporal comparison of opinions revealed that during this period, the proportion of Hungarians who consider individual actions and personal responsibility important has grown (Schneider–Medgyesi 2020). Accordingly, various environmentally conscious behaviors, such as selective waste collection or reducing car usage for environmental protection purposes, have become increasingly widespread. However, the political activity related to environmental protection among the Hungarian population has not changed over the nearly 30 years between the two surveys, and Hungarian respondents in the 2020 survey showed no greater willingness to make financial sacrifices for environmental protection than in 1993 (Schneider–Medgyesi 2020). This chapter examines, based on the 2024 survey data conducted by TÁRKI, how the frequency of individual and collective actions related to environmental protection and the willingness to make sacrifices for the environment have evolved in Hungary, and what factors explain these intentions and actions. In addition to the demographic characteristics and social status of the respondents, we also consider the role of attitudes in explaining environmentally conscious actions. Our main question is to what extent individual and collective actions for environmental protection, as well as the willingness to make sacrifices, can be explained by doubts regarding the importance and manageability of environmental issues.