Relationships between value orientations, self-determined motivational types and pro-environmental behavioural intentions

Abstract

We examined the predictive power of egoistic, altruistic and biospheric value orientations and six types of self-determined motivations (i.e. intrinsic motivation, integrated regulation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, external regulation, and amotivation) toward acting pro-environmentally for explaining two types of pro-environmental intentions in two questionnaire studies among student samples (N = 304 and N = 520). The two pro-environmental intentional measures included choosing a car based on environmental performance and donating to an environmental organisation. Values were more predictive of pro-environmental intentions than were self-determined motivational types, although these differences were not always statistically significant. Furthermore, we explored how value orientations are related to self-determined motivational types. The more respondents were altruistically and biospherically oriented, the more they were self-determined to act pro-environmentally. When respondents endorsed egoistic values, they were less self-determined towards acting in a pro-environmental way. When altruistic and especially biospheric values were important predictors of pro-environmental intentions, stronger types of self-determined motivations were also important to explain intentions. And, when egoistic values contributed uniquely to the explanation of pro-environmental intentions, amotivation and external regulation (i.e. less self-determined motivational types) were most relevant for explaining intentions.