Modelling the Significance of Value-Belief-Norm Theory in Predicting Solid Waste Management Intention and Behavior

Abstract

Urbanization and rapid use of natural resources worldwide led to a massive increase in the solid waste produced daily. The processing of solid waste is significantly lower than solid waste production. Sustainable solid waste processing requires collective efforts and a change in the general public mindset to reduce and effectively process solid waste. The current work aims to interpret the intention and behavior to mitigate the climatic issue of solid waste management among Malaysian adults under the value-belief-norm framework, which was extended with social norms. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data through an online survey from 1571 household heads in Malaysia. Data were analyzed with the partial least square-structure equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique given that the data were non-normal. Other relevant common method bias analyses were conducted to evaluate the influence of common method variance. The analyses demonstrated that the biospheric and altruistic values were essential for promoting the ecological worldview among the individuals. Following the VBN framework, the ecological worldview promotes the awareness of consequences, which facilitates the ascription of responsibility to perform corrective actions for the climate. Moreover, ecological worldview, awareness of consequences, and ascription of responsibility result in the personal norms towards the pro-climate behaviors. The social and personal norms effectively nurture the intention to engage in solid waste management practices. The VBN framework provides a guideline to promote the intention and behavior to adopt effective solid waste management practices, while education and public policy could harness public beliefs and norms to engage in pro-climatic behaviors.