Do socio-demographic groups report different attitudes towards water resource management? Evidence from a Ghanaian case study

Abstract

Understanding the influence of socio-demographic factors on attitudes towards water pollution mitigation measures could help provide good pointers in the design of effective water resources management policies. Yet, very few studies have examined this in the developing country context. Using quantitative methods to analyse survey data from Ghana, the main goal of the current study was to determine whether socio-demographic groups report different attitudes towards water resource management. Results show that females reported higher pro-environmental attitudes than men (and these differences were statistically significant). Additionally, the employed were found to have reported higher pro-environmental attitudes than students and the unemployed, however, we do not find evidence to support the influence of age and educational attainment. Notwithstanding the relatively limited sample, this work offers valuable insights into the different factors that could influence environmental attitudes. Further research is needed on how sociodemographic variables interact with other psychosocial factors to determine environmental attitudes. This could advance our understanding on how different social groups may respond to policies designed to promote pro-environmental behaviour and reduce water pollution.