Abstract

The study was primarily concerned with examining the behaviors of English and French Canadians towards the environment. In order to achieve this goal the two ethnic groups were compared on several variables, namely, attitudes, behaviors, environmental knowledge, differential values, individualism and collectivism, and demographics. Through the use of various multivariate methods we were able to come up with some interesting conclusions. The results indicated that although the French Canadians in our sample are more likely to have favorable attitudes towards environmental issues, they are also less likely to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors which require a personal cost. The opposite result was obtained for the English Canadians in our sample. French Canadians also proved to be more knowledgeable on recycling issues than English Canadians. When acculturation was present the differences between the attitudes, behaviors, and environmental knowledge of the two groups were indeed made less evident. French Canadians in our sample were found to be more individualist, while English Canadians were found to be more collectivist. In line with this finding, English Canadians placed more importance on terminal and instrumental values which are more likely to be held by a collectivist person. The opposite was true for the French Canadians in our sample. Limitations and implications were provided.