An Examination of Cohort Differences in Perceptions of the Energy Crisis

Examined the effects of age cohort on perceptions of the energy crisis in the US with 681 randomly selected Alabama power company customers who responded to a mail survey. A follow-up study indicated the relative lack of nonresponse bias. Data suggest that Ss had adopted 1 of 2 age-related postures toward the energy crisis. Younger Ss appeared to have adopted a high energy use lifestyle that they were reluctant to abandon. Their ideal solution to the energy crisis was the development of abundant energy from alternative sources that would not result in pollution. Older Ss, on the other hand, favored a strict conservation approach but believed that they, personally, had reached the limit of their ability to conserve. Given the seriousness of the short-term problem, they were willing to accept pollution as a cost of attempts to solve the energy crisis. (8 ref)