Beyond the Activist Ghetto: A Deductive Blockmodelling Approach to Understanding the Relationship Between Contact with Environmental Organisations and Public Attitudes and Behaviour

Current research on the behavioural impacts of social movements tends to focus on their influence on those most intensely involved. Consequently it overlooks the impacts that social movement organisations might have on those outside the activist ghetto. This paper article examines the relationship between contact with environmental organisations and public attitudes and behaviour. Monitoring the electricity use of 72 households has facilitated analysis of its association with their environmental attitudes and contact with environmental organisations. Although standard statistical approaches fail to uncover a relationship between contact with environmental organisations and attitudes and behaviour, a deductive blockmodeling approach tells a different story. Our findings reveal the need for systematic studies of environmental movement organisations' impact on the public's pro-environmental behaviours.