Psychological predictors of Sustainable Transportation Behaviour: Implications for Low Carbon Economy and Society

Abstract

There’s been a consistent increase in carbon emissions globally in the recent decades, primarily because of a consistent increase in personal transportation needs. Thus sustainable transportation behaviour has become a pertinent variable for investigation. The current study thus aimed to study the impact of environmental consciousness, green identity, values (biospheric, altruistic, egoistic), and consideration of future consequences on sustainable transportation behaviour such as usage of public transport and carpooling. The study employed a quantitative survey design with 351 participants in total and (M=67% F=33%) who were daily commuters to offices or universities. Results indicated that environmental consciousness, green identity and consideration of future consequences to be positively correlated with sustainable transportation behaviour. Biospheric and altruistic values were also found to have a positive correlation with sustainable transportation behaviour while egoistic values had a negative correlation with sustainable transportation behaviour. These findings have implications for a low carbon economy and society since they highlight important psychological variables that can promote sustainable transportation behaviour at an individual level and reduce overall carbon emissions.