Subjective Reasons for Littering: A Self-serving Attribution Bias as Justification Process in an Environmental Behaviour Model

Nora Steimer,Ralph Hansmann

doi:10.5755/j01.erem.73.1.18521

Abstract

Subjective causal explanations for littering of waste are investigated through a questionnaire-based survey (N = 147). Participants were asked if they littered waste in the past, and if so why, and they were also asked why they think some other people litter. 71% of the participants admitted having littered in the past. An analysis of the perceived reasons for littering showed significant differences between the reasons provided for own as compared to other people’s littering. The differences found were in line with previous research demonstrating a self-serving bias in intrapersonal as compared to interpersonal attributions. Own littering is often “justified” by external causes for example shortcomings in the infrastructure, such as missing or filled garbage cans, whereas negative personal attributions such as ignorance, naivety, and convenience are most commonly considered to cause littering by others. Findings are discussed with reference to the integrative Model of Justified Behaviour (MJB) (Hansmann and Steimer 2015) which covers a broad range of factors including attitudes, norms, knowledge, restrictions and options, habit formation, and evaluative processes of justification as determinants of behavioural decision-making. Implications for environmental management and for the design of anti-littering campaigns and environmental education are discussed.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.73.1.18521

Highlights

The littering of waste in urban and natural settings reduces the aesthetic and ecological quality of the environment (Berger and Sommerhalder, 2011, Crabb, 2014)
People attributed their own littering rather to external situational factors, whereas littering by others was predominantly attributed to negative internal, personal factors
Within the frame of the model of justified behaviour (MJB), this tendency can be understood as a process of justification in which litterers protect themselves from selfblame and from being blamed by others by renouncing personal responsibility for their negative dysfunctional behaviour

Summary

Introduction

The littering of waste in urban and natural settings reduces the aesthetic and ecological quality of the environment (Berger and Sommerhalder, 2011, Crabb, 2014). While cultural and societal changes constitute macro trends that may facilitate littering, it remains a problematic behaviour displayed by individuals in the psychological field of particular situations (Hansmann and Steimer, 2015, Schultz et al, 2013). Littering represents a problem of behavioural decision-making of individuals. This has been acknowledged in various previous studies relating measures for counteracting littering to psychological considerations of the learning theory (Keenan, 1996) and existing environmental behaviour models, such as the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991, Hansmann, 2012) or the focus theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al, 1990, Reno et al, 1993)

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Conclusion