Interactive effects of citizen trust and cultural values on pro-environmental behaviors: A time-lag study from Indonesia

Abstract

Countries that encourage pro-environmental behaviors to safeguard their citizens' health and safety contribute positively towards safeguarding nature and the environment. Therefore, investigating the motivators and triggering factors of people's pro-environmental behaviors is of utmost importance for scholars. Thus, grounded on the bio-spheric value orientation theory, the impact of various cultural values, including collectivism, femininity uncertainty avoidance, and future orientation on the citizens' pro-environmental behavior, has been examined in the current study. Additionally, the moderating role of citizens' trust has also been examined to check the enhanced effect of cultural values on pro-environmental behavior. Surveying 576 citizens of Palangka Raya Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, at two different times with six months gap, results showed that collectivism, femininity uncertainty avoidance, and future orientation positively and significantly influence pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, citizens' trust moderates these associations while depicting that more citizens' trust results in stronger cultural values associations with pro-environmental behavior. Overall, this study is incremental in exploring the interactive effect of citizens' trust with various cultural values to enhance pro-environmental behavior among citizens of Palangka Raya city, Indonesia. Besides, research brings multiple theoretical, managerial, and future research implications.