Are we on the same page? Exploring the relationships between environmental values, self-identity, personal norms and behavior in parent-adolescent dyads

Abstract

Environmental values, self-identity and personal norms are relevant factors predicting individuals' environmentally-friendly behaviors. These environmental motivations do not form in solitude but in social interactions, and as such could be shaped by the family context. Yet, we do not know to what extent environmental motivations among family members are related, such as between parents and their adolescent children. Adolescents in particular could potentially hold different environmental motivations than their parents because of age-specific tendencies to rebel against the norms and values of parents and to seek their own unique identity. We studied the relationships between environmental motivations and behaviors in a representative sample of 492 adolescent-parent dyads in Lithuania (N = 984). We found positive relationships between parents' and their adolescent children's environmental values, self-identity and personal norms. Furthermore, adolescents' environmental motivations were associated with parents' pro-environmental behaviors, and parents' environmental motivations were associated with adolescents' pro-environmental behaviors. The study supports and extends the accumulating evidence that environmental motivations, in particular environmental values, self-identity and personal norms, are positively related between parents and their adolescent children and can potentially predict each-others’ pro-environmental behavior.