Attitudes and behavior in social space: Public good interventions based on shared representations and environmental influences

Abstract

A sub-theory of social space was developed that predicts that attitude–behavior correlations will be reduced in public places when there are either (1) shared representations and behavioral uniformity associated with a group's interaction and social identification with that place, or (2) direct cues from the physical environment that make certain behaviors less likely to be under perceived behavior control. This distinction is critical for knowing when attitudinal or structural interventions are more likely to change different types of behavior in different spaces. The theory was applied to the problem of littering in the central quadrangle (quad) of a university. Study 1 found that attitude–behavior correlations were significantly lower on-Quad compared to off-Quad (for noncigarette littering). Attitude salience manipulations failed to change littering behavior, and there were no differences in social representations of the quad space or attitude–behavior correlations between regular and casual users. Self-monitoring was found to moderate attitude behavior-correlations off-Quad but not on-Quad. In Study 2, a structural intervention (adding ashtrays and litter bins) reduced cigarette littering by 64%, without changing attitudes towards littering. Consistent with the two-stage process model of littering behavior, pro-environmental attitudes predicted active, but not passive, littering. Results supported an environmental perspective in which the structure of the physical environment, rather than group-based social representations and attitudes, moderated the way in which littering behavior was performed.