Engagement In Pro-environmental Behaviors Research Articles

Green, keen, and somewhere in between: An employee environmental segmentation study

Past research analyzes employee engagement in pro-environmental behavior by assuming all employees are similar in their values, beliefs, and norms (VBN). We argue that a segmented approach is more effective in understanding workplace pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) and seek to develop a typology of employees. Analyzing data from 702 office employees in the UK, this study yields a more finely grained segmentation of employee differences regarding environmental dimensions, personality traits, behaviors, and perceptions. Based on a cluster analysis methodology, this paper identifies three distinct employee segments: ‘Acorns,’ ‘Saplings,’ and ‘Trees.’ Theoretically, our findings suggest that the VBN theory should be expanded by integrating personality traits, and that organizational environmental policy makers should pay attention to the green subcultures that may form within clusters. Practically, our typology helps organizations design interventions to target different groups of employees with customized motivational strategies, communication tactics, and engagement approaches.

The prosocial and pro-environmental aspects of authenticity and the mediating role of self-transcendence

ABSTRACT A considerable body of relevant literature has grown up around the theme of authenticity, showing the critical role it has in relation to a variety of indicators of individual well-being. The personal benefits of authenticity are now well documented. However, in this paper we hypothesize that authenticity is not only beneficial to the person themselves, but that it also promotes prosociality and ecological sensitivity. This study used cross-sectional data from one hundred and twenty-nine Turkish participants, who completed Turkish version of the Authenticity Scale, The Environmental Behavior Scale, The Helping Attitudes Scale and The Self-Transcendence Scale. The findings reported here show that greater authenticity was associated with more favorable attitudes to helping others and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. Furthermore, the present research explored, for the first time, the effects of self-transcendence. The results showed that the associations between authenticity and helping attitudes of altruism as well as receiving and giving were mediated by self-transcendence. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed in terms of humanistic perspectives on authenticity.

Media Use, Environmental Mediators, and Pro-environmental Behaviors across and within Countries

ABSTRACT This study develops a model of direct association of exposure to environmental media content, and indirect association through environmental attitude and environmental efficacy, with pro-environmental behaviors. It also considers secondary media roles of exposure to general news media and involvement in mediated civic activism. The model and hypotheses are tested through Hayes Process mediation models, using secondary, cross-sectional survey data from 11,000 respondents across 11 countries. The model is well-supported overall and within countries, and the secondary media variables have generally consistent effects within countries. Socio-demographic covariates have varying relationships with environmental attitude, environmental efficacy, and pro-environmental behaviors, overall, and within countries. In line with social cognitive theory, these results suggest that media use related to environmental issues does not have to raise individuals’ pro-environmental attitude or efficacy (though it does) to increase engagement in pro-environmental behavior.

Pro-Environmental Behavior Triggers Moral Inference, Not Licensing by Observers

Several studies have shown that moral licensing by observers makes observers more lenient in their judgment of subsequent immoral behaviors committed by a person. Environmental behavior is generally perceived as moral behavior, but it is not known whether it can trigger moral licensing by observers. In two pre-registered experimental laboratory studies ( N1 = 198, N2 = 501), we have tested whether prior engagement in pro-environmental behavior triggers licensing by observers and thus makes observers judge more positively actors’ subsequent immoral behavior (Study 1) and their subsequent anti- and pro-environmental behaviors (Study 2). We found that people engaging in pro-environmental behavior were subsequently rated as more pro-environmental and moral, and their subsequent pro- and anti-environmental behaviors (but not outright immoral behavior) were rated as more moral by observers. As these effects also concern subsequent pro-environmental behaviors, they are broader than what licensing theory suggests.

Effects of personal environmental awareness and environmental concern on employees' voluntary pro-environmental behavior: a mediation analysis in emerging countries

PurposeSuccessful stimulation of employee engagement in pro-environmental behavior (PEB) at work can reduce organizational environmental footprint and boost its green performance. The aim of this paper is to investigate the individual factors that may promote such behavior at work, offering a complex model with mediating relationships not studied before.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper data was collected through a survey of 331 bank employees from different banks in Kazakhstan and Ecuador. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships between the different constructs.FindingsThe results identified that environmental values and attitudes mediate the relationship between (1) personal environmental awareness and (2) environmental concern and employees' voluntary PEB at work. Harmonious environmental passion (HEP) mediates the relationship between environmental values and attitudes and employees' voluntary PEB at work.Practical implicationsThis study presents important organizational policymaking implications with regard to organizational greening. The importance of environmental awareness is underlined, guiding managers to offer environmental education and training to the employees with the aim of improving environmental knowledge that may lead to employees' voluntary PEB at work. Also, managers should work on enhancing HEP.Originality/valuePrior literature on this topic is still scarce. This research presents important contributions by discussing how individual antecedents may act as stimuli of employees' voluntary PEB at work in the context of the banking sector in two emerging countries that are often neglected by prior literature.

An Information-Theoretic Approach to Modeling the Major Drivers of Pro-Environmental Behavior

Researchers attempting to identify and understand the so-called drivers of public concern for the environment and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors have conceptualized and modeled numerous theoretical constructs. This has made it hard to establish generalities across studies regarding the causal ordering of relationships between these constructs. This study reviews some of the major constructs employed within this area of research, and uses an information-theoretic approach to assess six models that position these constructs within different causal orderings to predict general pro-environmental behavior (G-PEB). The results indicate that environmental values and general environmental beliefs are distal drivers of engagement in G-PEB, and form the foundation—or primary motivational base—for environmental identity, concerns, attitudes, and norms that—directly and more proximally—influence this broad set of behaviors. This suggests that effective policies and interventions need to target both the proximal and distal influences on behavior, as well as the contexts and structures that support shared values and primary beliefs within a society or culture. Recommendations for ways that researchers could better understand individuals and their behaviors impacting the environment more deeply, both systematically and socio-ecologically, are suggested.

How Does Mindfulness Affect Pro-environmental Behaviors? A Qualitative Analysis of the Mechanisms of Change in a Sample of Active Practitioners

ObjectivesWhile there is theoretical and empirical evidence for a positive relationship between mindfulness and pro-environmental behaviors, so far research into mindfulness-based sustainability trainings with meditation novices yielded underwhelming results. At the same time, there is a lack of qualitative research into the mindfulness and sustainability nexus. The objective of this qualitative research was to study the potential mechanisms linking mindfulness practices and individual engagement in pro-environmental behaviors in a sample of meditators.MethodsThis research is based on a reflexive thematic analysis of 13 semi-structured interviews with active meditators, analyzed under a constructivist epistemology and experiential orientation to data interpretation.ResultsFive themes describe the mindfulness-induced behavior changes experienced by the interviewees: awakening of the mind (self-regulation), awakening of the heart (relational capacities), internalizing environmental motivation, eudaimonic well-being, and deepening mindfulness. A thematic map displays the multitude of factors mediating the process of change.ConclusionsThis study revealed that for those interviewed, the degree to which mindfulness practices can encourage pro-environmental behaviors depends on the level of individual commitment towards mindfulness as a lifestyle. Particularly, the integration of mindful living principles in form of the informal practice of mindfulness plays a key role to implement behavior change. Yet even though this research identified five positive factors for change, the specific context of the interviewee sample combined with general methodological drawbacks call for a careful interpretation of the results regarding its applicability to the general population. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the mindfulness-sustainability nexus and shows the potential of qualitative methods to research complex intra-individual change processes and long-term behavior change.

Use of crowdsourced images for determining 2D:4D and relationship to pro-environmental variables.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether 2D:4D ratios (a putative measure of prenatal androgen exposure) could be determined using participant-submitted hand images. The secondary purpose was to examine whether 2D:4D ratio was associated with pro-environmental behaviors, attitudes, and empathy, given the recent literature linking sex to environmental attitudes and actions. Participants (N = 1065) were asked via an online survey to submit a clear photograph of their right hand, palm side up. Participants also completed a questionnaire to assess (a) demographics, (b) dispositional empathy, and (c) environmental attitudes and behavior. A 2D:4D ratio was calculated for each participant, and the quality of each image was classified as poor, moderate, or good. We then examined the reliability of the 2D:4D image measurements, and the relationship between 2D:4D and our environmental measures. 2D:4D ratios fell somewhat outside of previously reported ranges, but the measurements did show acceptable intra-rater consistency. Although we did not find a sex difference in 2D:4D, we did find a sex by ratio interaction for both empathy and the number of pro-environmental behaviors in which individuals had engaged. Specifically, as 2D:4D ratio increased, males reported lower empathy and less engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, whereas females reported more engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (but no differences in empathy). These findings were contrary to expectations, as we anticipated that greater digit ratios (i.e., feminized) would be associated with greater empathy and pro-environmental behaviors. Overall, the findings of this study present a preliminary examination of the utility of measuring digit ratio with online samples. Furthermore, our results provide information regarding the complex relationship between sex and pro-environmental behaviors.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10211-022-00401-5.

Examining when and how perceived sustainability-related climate influences pro-environmental behaviors of tourism destination residents in China

Scholarly interest in the pro-environmental behaviors of local residents in tourism destination has begun to emerge. While the research is beginning to shed light on the predictors of local residents' pro-environmental behaviors, the circumstances and the influencing mechanisms of predictors on pro-environmental behaviors is incomplete. From the perspective of the destination-specific situational antecedent, this study develops a Stimulus-Organism-Response (S–O-R) framework to examine the effect of perceived sustainability-related climate on residents' pro-environmental behaviors and further investigate the boundary condition and underlying mechanisms of this relationship. The approach of this study is deductive. Data from 652 residents in a Chinese tourism destination indicated that residents' perceived sustainability-related climate directly affects their engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. The above effect is stronger for residents who are highly valued attention to social comparison information. Furthermore, perceived sustainability-related climate also indirectly affects residents’ pro-environmental behaviors via environmental passion, perceived environmental responsibility, and environmental commitment. This study offers a new research perspective from the situational antecedent and provides insights and implications for destination managers to promote the destination sustainability.

Sustainability of nature walking trails: predicting walking tourists’ engagement in pro-environmental behaviors

ABSTRACT This study aimed to understand how tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) can be promoted in natural walking trails. Specifically, this study examined the links among place attachment, place-specific PEB, and general PEB in everyday life, and the effects of power on PEB. Using data collected from 273 walking tourists, the results of structural equation modeling revealed place identity, nature bonding, social bonding, and general PEB directly affecting place-specific PEB. In addition, power was found to have a direct effect on only general PEB. These results demonstrate the importance of focusing affective strategies and providing effective infrastructure to promote tourists’ environmental practices.

Relationships between childhood experience of nature and green/blue space use, landscape preferences, connection with nature and pro-environmental behavior

Nature exposure during childhood is thought to foster habits and preferences leading to greater nature exposure in adult life, thus providing an indirect route to increased mental and physical well-being, and greater engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). We explored the relationships between childhood nature experience (CNE) and time spent in nature, landscape preferences, biodiversity exposure, nature connection and willingness to engage in PEB as adults, using two data sets. Adults sampled in three New Zealand cities showed no significant association between CNE and time spent by adults in public and private green and blue spaces, nor with biodiversity exposure, as those with higher CNE scores did not select more biodiverse spaces to visit as adults. There were positive but weak associations between both age and the Nature Relatedness score, and nature contact. A second survey of young adults aged mostly between 18 and 25 years found only a weak association between CNE and willingness to engage in PEB, and similarly weak positive associations with scores representing participants' awareness of the term “biodiversity” and strategies to improve biodiversity, the degree to which they valued biodiversity and urban green spaces, and their belief in the wellbeing benefits of nature for people. Time spent in nature during childhood was not a good predictor of time adults spent in natural spaces, landscape preferences or likelihood of PEB, suggesting that even where there is a deficit of childhood experiences adults can positively engage with nature in green and blue spaces.

A moderator of destination social responsibility for tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors in the VIP model

Tourists are important destination stakeholders who mainly impact sustainable nature-based tourism destinations. While destinations promote socially responsible programs to protect the environment, tourists' engagement in pro-environmental behaviors is different. This research examined a conceptual framework to investigate tourists' pro-environmental behaviors at an ecological destination through the lens of the Values–Identity–Personal norms (VIP) model and the concept of destination social responsibility (DSR) from economic, environmental, and social perspectives. Examination of the VIP model, with a sample of 433 visitors to a nature-based destination, revealed that tourists' biospheric values, environmental self-identity, and personal norms had significant progressive relationships in influencing pro-environmental behaviors. Furthermore, a latent moderated structural equation analysis revealed that the DSR, particularly the environmental dimension, had a negative moderating effect between personal norms and pro-environmental behaviors. This finding implies that the effect of personal norms on pro-environmental behavior decreases when environmental DSR increases. This result highlights a significant role of destination environmental responsibility in impacting tourists' pro-environmental behaviors. The integrated model enhanced the predictability of pro-environmental behaviors, extending a methodological approach that improved the ability to analyze moderation effects. The findings offer managerial strategies for developing effective DSR messages to promote tourists’ pro-environmental activities. • An integrated framework enhanced the predictability of pro-environmental behaviors. • Values–Identity–Personal norms model parsimoniously explained tourists' pro-environmental decision-making process. • Destination social responsibility (DSR) significantly moderated the impact of personal norms on behaviors. • Latent moderated structural equations improved the ability to analyze moderation effects. • DMOs benefit from promoting DSR as a collective approach, concerning the perspective of tourists as key stakeholders.

On the relationship between hunters and pro-environmental intent

ABSTRACT Unprecedented climate change and ecosystem degradation require immediate action at individual and societal levels. It has been suggested that hunting, as a nature-based activity, can contribute to pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. However, social psychological mechanisms driving hunter engagement in pro-environmental behavior are less understood. We used a sample consisted of hunter and non-hunter students from a large southern U.S. university (n = 1,594) to investigate factors associated with intentions to engage in pro-environmental actions. Our results suggested that hunters generally express less pro-environmental intention than do non-hunters. Structural equation modeling showed that hunters’ domination value orientation may attenuate their pro-environmental self-identity as the main predictor of pro-environmental intention. Our findings also highlighted the role of connection with nature in fostering pro-environmental behavior. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and possible pathways to promote pro-environmental behavior among hunters.

Improving Assessments of Connection to Nature: A Participatory Approach

Experiences in nature benefit humans in a variety of ways, including increasing health and well-being, reducing stress, inspiring creativity, enhancing learning, and fostering environmental stewardship values. These experiences help define the relationship people have with nature which is often correlated with a person’s level of environmental concern as well as their engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. A more informed understanding of the ways in which interactions with the natural environment can foster connection to nature requires that we are able to measure our perceived relationship to the environment. Dozens of tools measure people’s connection to nature—the strength of those perceived relationships with the natural world. Although the tools have been primarily developed to answer research questions, practitioners are increasingly interested in understanding whether and in what ways their work—in areas including environmental education, urban planning, and park management, for example—influences people’s connection to nature. In 2018, we launched a participatory process involving researchers and practitioners in a review of existing connection to nature assessment tools with the intention of identifying tools that would be useful to practitioners, as well as defining needs in research. This paper chronicles the process’s outcomes, including a discussion of opportunities for future research.

Practice Matters: Pro-environmental Motivations and Diet-Related Impact Vary With Meditation Experience.

Mindfulness has emerged as a potential motivator for sustainable lifestyles, yet few studies provide insight into the relationship between mindfulness practice levels and individual engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. We also lack information about the significance of meditators’ behavioral differences in terms of their measurable environmental impact and the motivational processes underlying these differences in pro-environmental performance. We classified 300 individuals in three groups with varying meditation experience and compared their pro-environmental motivations and levels of animal protein consumption. Exceeding prior attempts to compare high-impact behaviors of mindfulness practitioners and non-practitioners, we created the most detailed classification of practice engagement by assessing frequency, experience and type of meditation practice. This nuanced view on mindfulness practice reveals that advanced meditators, who reported high levels of connectedness with nature (CWN), subjective happiness and dispositional mindfulness showed significantly more concern for the environment. They also demonstrated the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, land occupation and water use related to their animal-protein consumption. This study is the first to follow a self-determination theory perspective to deepen our understanding of the motivational differences between meditator groups. We revealed that advanced meditators reported significantly more integrated motivation toward the environment than non-meditators. We also provided preliminary evidence for a new theoretical framework suggesting that experiential strategies such as mindfulness practices could strengthen the relational pathway of pro-environmental behaviors. Using sequential mediation analysis, we confirmed that the negative effect of mindful compassion practice on greenhouse gas emissions from animal-protein consumption is partially mediated by CWN and integrated motivation toward the environment. While our study does not support assumptions of causality, it shows that much can be learned by studying the motivations of advanced meditators for maintaining high levels of pro-environmental behavior.

The Normative Route to a Sustainable Future: Examining Children’s Environmental Values, Identity and Personal Norms to Conserve Energy

Environmental problems could be reduced if individuals act pro-environmentally. Typically, studies have examined factors explaining pro-environmental behavior among adults, but not among children. As children are the future generations that must meet the targets set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, it is important to understand which factors influence their engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, such as their energy saving behavior. In two correlational studies among primary and secondary school children ( nstudy1 = 69, nstudy2 = 958), we tested if normative considerations proposed by the Value-Identity-Personal Norm (VIP) model can explain children’s self-reported energy-saving behaviors. Our results revealed that in line with research among adults, children’s biospheric values were related to their energy-saving self-identity, in turn associated with their personal norms to save energy. Furthermore, we found partial support for the proposed relationship between the variables of the VIP model and a range of self-reported energy-saving behaviors.

Employees' perceived job performance, organizational identification, and pro-environmental behaviors in the hotel industry

Abstract Employees' engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) is crucial for greening hotels and improving hotel performance. This paper argues that we can explore employees' PEB motivations from a positive externality/spillover perspective because such voluntary behaviors benefit actors other than the employees, namely, the hotels that employ them and the surrounding natural environment. Accordingly, compensation and internalization could motivate employees' PEBs. This paper attempts to advance research on internalization by focusing on the oneness between employees and organizations and by proposing that organizational identification (OI) is an essential predictor of employees' PEBs and can be improved by increasing their perceived job performance (PJP). Additionally, this paper argues that PJP can affect employees' PEBs through OI. In the context of the positivism research philosophy, the current study utilized a survey method to collect data from employees working in Chinese hotels and performed ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to test the proposed hypotheses, which were all supported empirically.

No Evidence of Within-Domain Moral Licensing in the Environmental Domain

Several studies have suggested that people might be less likely to engage in proenvironmental behavior subsequent to their prior engagement in proenvironmental behavior. We have conducted a preregistered replication of one such recent study of within-domain licensing in the area of environmental protection. Our replication was extended with an analysis of self-perception as a potential mediator of licensing and environmental attitude as its moderator. The results of our web-based experiment ( N = 1,765) show that recollection of past proenvironmental behavior does not diminish subsequent support of a proenvironmental energy policy or proenvironmental intention, and that environmental attitude does not moderate licensing. We only found some evidence of an indirect effect of recollection on subsequent policy support and proenvironmental intention, mediated by self-perception; the pattern of mediation is, however, inconsistent with the licensing theory. We have not replicated the licensing effect observed in the original study.

Social Preferences and Environmental Behavior: A Comparison of Self-Reported and Observed Behaviors

Faced with the depletion of natural resources and climate change, individuals making the choice to behave in a more environmentally conscious way is increasingly necessary. Rational choice theory suggests that individuals will only behave in pro-environmental ways if they perceive those actions to align with their own self-interests. Others, however, have highlighted instances where individuals act pro-socially or altruistically, deviating from their own self-interests for the benefit of others. The present study examines whether individuals’ social preferences are associated with engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. Specifically, drawing on a methodology from behavioral economics, we use dictator and ultimatum game behavior to measure social preferences, and we then evaluate whether heterogeneity in social preferences is associated with self-reported pro-environmental behaviors and observed recycling behavior. The results indicate that individual differences in social preferences have a modest association with self-reported pro-environmental behaviors but no association with observed recycling behavior. Self-reported pro-environmental behavior was not associated with observed recycling behavior. We also find that recycling bin proximity to classroom doors increased participation in recycling. This finding demonstrates that individuals are receptive to the proximate opportunity to recycle. This suggests increasing the ease with which people can engage in pro-environmental behaviors, such as recycling, will promote participation in these practices. Overall, our research indicates that social preferences do not seem to drive individuals to act in environmentally friendly ways. This work also provides new opportunities for future research to integrate economic games into the study of pro-environmental behaviors.

The CN-12: A Brief, Multidimensional Connection With Nature Instrument.

In recent decades, there has been increasing interest in (re)connecting people with nature to foster sustainability outcomes. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting a relationship between connection with nature and pro-environmental behaviors. Connection with nature has often been conceptualized as a unidimensional construct, and although recent evidence suggests that it is multidimensional, there is ongoing debate regarding the dimensions that make up connection with nature. Existing multidimensional connection with nature instruments capture similar dimensions, yet they are lengthy and may not have practical application in real-world contexts. This research sought to clarify the dimensions of connection with nature and to develop and validate an abbreviated yet multidimensional connection with nature instrument—the CN-12. Analyses of two large datasets revealed three dimensions of connection with nature—identity, experience, and philosophy. Results suggested that the CN-12 and its three dimensions are positively correlated with: (1) environmental and altruistic values; (2) time spent in nature; and (3) a range of pro-environmental behaviors. Results also suggested that the CN-12 and its three dimensions are stable over time and are positively correlated with two existing multidimensional connection with nature instruments, the Nature Relatedness (NR) Scale and Environmental Identity (EID) Scale. The utility of the CN-12 for exploring human connections with nature and the role of fostering connection with nature to increase engagement in pro-environmental behaviors are discussed.