Place attachment, trust and mobility: Three-way interaction effect on urban residents' environmental citizenship behaviour

Abstract

In this research, we study the civic perspective of pro-environmental behaviour, i.e. the environmental citizenship behaviour of urban residents. We examine a three-way interaction effect of residents' place attachment, their trust in local governments' environmental policies and their mobility on environmental citizenship behaviour. Using data from a sample of Beijing residents (N = 423), we test our hypotheses using moderated regression analyses. Our findings suggest that place attachment and trust influence urban residents' environmental citizenship behaviour. We also find a two-way interaction effect, which indicates that the effect of place attachment on environmental citizenship behaviour is stronger when residents have a higher level of trust. Interestingly, our results support the existence of a three-way interaction effect, implying that the positive relationship between place attachment and environmental citizenship behaviour is strongest when trust is high and when mobility is high. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.