The Effects of Christianity and Hinduism on Environmentalism

This research examined the influence that Christian and Hindu religious beliefs have on environmentalism; specifically, whether beliefs that one would return to this earth after death (i.e., a belief in reincarnation) and how the world might end may explain more positive attitudes toward the environment. Participants were 533 self-identified Christians and Hindus in the United States and India who completed an online survey assessing religiosity, positive attitudes towards environmentalism, afterlife beliefs, and eschatological beliefs. Christians showed significantly lower ratings of environmentalism compared with Hindus. There were also significant negative differences found based on beliefs about heaven, eschatology beliefs, and increased religiosity in Christians, and significant positive differences found based on reincarnation, eschatology beliefs, and increased religiosity in Hindus. Overall, these results suggest that Christians are less likely to have positive attitudes toward environmentalism compared with Hindus, and that beliefs about the afterlife and the end of the world were significant predictors of environmentalist attitudes.