Self-reported Pro-environmental Behavior Research Articles

Should the risk of social desirability bias in survey studies be assessed at the level of each pro-environmental behaviour?

Social desirability bias is the tendency of individuals to over-report behaviour viewed favourably by society, such as environmentally sustainable behaviour. The currently prevalent approach to managing social desirability bias in survey studies is to include a set of additional questions to determine a respondent's person-specific social desirability bias, which can also be used as a correction factor. Yet, the pooled correlation between person-specific social desirability and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour is weak. Our study challenges the currently dominant approach. We propose an alternative approach that uses a behaviour-specific indicator. The behaviour-specific indicator captures the social evaluation of the behaviour and perceived embarrassment when admitting to the behaviour. The analysis of the associations between person-specific and behaviour-specific social desirability bias indicators and 11 self-reported behaviours suggests that the behaviour-specific approach has a higher ability to alert researchers to the risk of socially desirable responding in self-report survey studies.

Direct Experience of Nature as a Predictor of Environmentally Responsible Behaviors

A small but growing body of literature suggests that outdoor experiences during childhood affect environment-related behaviors in adulthood. However, research on the magnitude of the effect (effect size) of outdoor experience on learners’ behaviors remains scarce. In this study, we explored the extent to which outdoor experiences are associated with environmentally responsible behaviors. Our sample consisted of 143 ninth- and tenth-grade students living on a Greek island. The data were collected using a properly adjusted environmental literacy instrument. Two different methodological pathways, i.e., a quasi-experimental approach and correlation analysis, were used to analyze the data. A tentative variable representing the frequency and intensity of students’ experiential contact with nature was found to be the strongest available predictor of their self-reported pro-environmental behaviors. The findings of this study support the significance of outdoor, experiential learning during childhood in shaping individuals’ environmental behaviors.

Insights into eco-anxiety in Italy: Preliminary psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Hogg Eco-anxiety Scale, age and gender distribution

Eco-anxiety is a topic of extreme importance in Italy. The present study aimed to assess the preliminary psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS). Different internal structures of the HEAS were compared through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the four-factor model met the best criteria for adequacy of fit. Affective symptoms, rumination, behavioral symptoms, and anxiety about one's negative impact on the planet are the dimensions captured by the 13 items of the HEAS, consistent with the results of the original study. Results highlight good internal consistency for all four subscales of the HEAS making it an adequate instrument to assess eco-anxiety in Italy and enrich research on the topic. Correlations with Climate Change Anxiety Scale, New Ecological Paradigm Scale-Revised, and Self-Reported Pro-Environmental Behaviours were examined. Gender, age distribution and mean differences between countries were also explored.

Protect the environment for impressing others? Understanding whether, why, and when relational mobility shapes individual pro-environmental behaviors

Despite a substantial body of literature on pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), there has been an overlook of whether and how broader social contexts (relational mobility in particular) may shape PEBs. Integrating the perspective of the person-context interaction with impression management theory, our research aims to understand whether, why, and when relational mobility, an important societal factor, impacts individual self-reported PEBs. Study 1 utilized a national representative dataset and found that relational mobility was positively associated with PEBs. Study 2 replicated this result using a new sample, and further found that relational mobility increased PEBs via impression management motivation. Finally, Study 3 was conducted with an experimental design, revealing that environmental self-identity strengthened the mediating effect identified in Study 2. The findings highlight that PEBs can be shaped by broader environmental factors via impression management motivation, which provides practical implications for promoting environmental sustainability.

The Role of Personality in the Adoption of Pro-Environmental Behaviors through the Lens of the Value-Belief-Norm Theory

The present study investigated citizens’ self-reported pro-environmental behaviors by adopting a survey and bootstrapping via structural equation modeling for five different personality traits. Adopting one traditional psycho-social theory, this study investigates how motivations, values, intentions, norms, and behaviors are connected by using different constructs from the value-belief-norm theory extended with external influences and three different pro-environmental behaviors, namely, waste preventer, green consumer, and avoider, and how the connections change between different personality traits from the Big Five personality test, namely, openness, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, and consciousness. According to this study, personal conscience may inspire environmentally beneficial behaviors like green purchasing and waste reduction when appealing to the emotions of the general public. As a result, strengthening the population’s subjective norms requires interventions that concentrate on communication tactics to raise knowledge of penalties and obligations for communal advantages.

Spillover of Social Norms at Work On Employees’ Self-Reported Private Sphere Pro-Environmental Behaviour: A Mixed Method Investigation

AbstractThis article draws on the Focus Theory of Normative Conduct to examine whether injunctive social norms relating to perceived environmental management practices shape employees’ self-reported pro-environmental behaviour in their private sphere. To test our hypotheses, we employed a mixed methods research approach that involved a cross-sectional analysis and a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental field study in the German tourist industry. Our results verify the context-bridging influence of perceived environmental management practices on employees’ self-reported private sphere pro-environmental behaviour. Further, they reveal that this relationship is partially mediated by descriptive social norms among co-workers. Thereby, our findings shed light on a thus far neglected dynamic between injunctive and descriptive social norms that constitutes a pathway for contextual spillover. Our study thus challenges the prominent proposition that the influence of injunctive social norms remains restricted to contexts in which the norm is currently salient. The results further develop existing theory by demonstrating how a dynamic interaction between injunctive and descriptive norms can support the emergence and dissemination of social norms across contexts and they reveal how businesses can shape this process.

Development and Validation of the Climate Capability Scale

Climate change poses a serious existential threat to life on our planet. If we are to mitigate the most damaging impacts of climate change, there is a need for citizens who are willing and able to make changes to their individual behaviours, but who are also politically engaged and motivated to participate in, and advocate for, systemic change; there is a need for citizens who are Climate Capable. However, there is no scale currently available with which to measure the climate capability of adults and adolescents. Through an iterative process across three studies with 849 UK adults, we developed and validated a 24-item Climate Capability Scale. In a further study, with 458 UK adolescent participants (aged 12–15), we validated the scale for use with adolescents. We demonstrate that the scale is internally consistent, has good test–retest reliability, correlates with measures of related constructs such as environmental worldview and scientific literacy, and predicts self-reported pro-environmental behaviour. The Climate Capability Scale may have particular value in educational and public engagement contexts for measuring the effectiveness of programs and interventions designed to increase Climate Capability, as well as similar approaches to heighten engagement with the climate crisis.

Identifying bias in self-reported pro-environmental behavior

Research on pro-environmental behavior (PEB) informs social policies and interventions, so the quality of PEB measurement is critical. Self-reported PEB measures in surveys often contain non-negligible measurement error that can bias estimates and lead to incorrect findings. Given the potential presence of error, we hypothesize that changes to the way self-reported PEB is measured might lead to systematic measurement errors that affect the validity of results. Study 1 (N = 951) showed that priming participants with related scales like environmentalist identity did not substantively change reported behavior (all ds ≤ 0.12). To investigate the possibility of overreporting without priming, Study 2 (N = 385) measured littering prevention behavior using the Unmatched Count Technique. A standard questionnaire format led to much higher reported behavior compared to the more anonymous covert condition, d = 0.53, and this effect appeared driven by participants who reported a stronger environmentalist identity. These results may help to explain some of the observed error in PEB measures. We suggest that researchers could reduce measurement bias with indirect questioning techniques.

The Relationship Between Psychedelic Use, Mystical Experiences, and Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Expanding on the work of Forstmann and Sagioglou, this study investigated the differences in personality and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) as a function of psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences. A sample of 240 participants with prior psychedelic experience completed an online survey. Data were collected on participants’ psychedelic-occasioned mystical states, personality, and self-reported PEB. A measure of behavioral PEB was also included (Charity Task). The mean scores on self-reported PEB, openness and agreeableness of participants who met the criteria for a “complete” mystical state, were significantly higher than those who did not. Specifically, those who experienced a mystical state scored higher on the PEB types “eco-shopping and eating” and “one-off domestic conservation actions.” Participants who demonstrated PEB in the Charity Task scored higher on self-reported PEB than those who did not, supporting the task’s validity. Findings suggest that mystical experiences influence PEB. Future research with experimental designs could further illuminate potential causal relationships.

Self-transcendent emotion dispositions: Greater connections with nature and more sustainable behavior

In three studies, we explored how different classes of positive emotion dispositions may have different relations with pro-environmental outcomes despite sharing positive valence. We hypothesized that self-transcendent emotions (awe, compassion, love) would relate to more sustainable behaviors, beliefs, values, and self-nature representations because these emotions support a prosocial mindset and broaden the self-concept. Conversely, we hypothesized that self-interested emotions (joy, contentment, pride, amusement) would not relate to more of these pro-environmental outcomes and would instead predict more self-orientated beliefs and values because these emotions involve a greater self-focus. In Study 1, self-transcendent emotions uniquely predicted greater self-reported pro-environmental behavior, biospheric concern, nature connectedness, and more sustainable self-nature representations, whereas self-interested emotions did not and instead predicted greater egoistic concern. Study 2 aimed to replicate these findings and added measures of values and political beliefs. For self-transcendent emotions, the results of Study 1 were replicated, and it was also found that they uniquely predicted greater endorsement of self-transcendent values and less political conservatism. Self-interested emotions uniquely predicted less pro-environmental behavior and greater endorsement of self-enhancement values and conservative beliefs. Finally, Study 3 found that self-transcendent emotions but not self-interested emotions uniquely predicted more actual recycling weeks later. Implications for the intersection of positive emotions research and sustainability are discussed.

On the predictors of pro-environmental behaviors: integrating personal values and the 2-MEV among secondary school students in Tanzania

The role of personal values in understanding pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors has received considerable attention from psychological researchers. However, little is known about the mutual interaction of personal values and the Theory of Ecological Attitudes (2-MEV) in explaining pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). To explore the mediating factors with which pro-environmental behaviors are explained via environmental attitudes and personal values, this article reports the study findings from secondary school students. Specifically, the article indicates the extent to which a unified model of personal values and the Theory of Ecological Attitudes (2-MEV) explain self-reported PEBs. The cross-cultural validity of the 2-MEV for measuring environmental attitudes (EA) among the selected respondents is as well investigated. A cross-sectional survey of 408 secondary school students was used for data collection. As expected, principal component analysis with a varimax rotation confirmed the two-factor structure of the 2-MEV measuring EA with two uncorrelated factors of Preservation and Utilization. Interestingly, multiple regression analyses indicated that a combined model of personal values and the 2-MEV provides a more explained variance of self-reported PEBs compared to when any of the two predicators is used independently. Overall, altruistic value provides the largest predictive power over egoistic and biospheric values in mediating EA. In turn, the general model that includes personal values and the 2-MEV indicates that Preservation makes the largest and unique contribution in explaining recycling, biodiversity protection, environmental activism, and general PEBs. Conversely, the Utilization factor provides the largest negative explained variance for management of environmental pollution behavior. These findings remain unaltered even when the age of respondents and social desirability responding are statistically controlled. The implications regarding these study findings are discussed.

The COVID-19 crisis does not diminish environmental motivation: Evidence from two panel studies of decision making and self-reported pro-environmental behavior

The literature shows that threats unrelated to environmental problems can shift attention away from these problems and affect pro-environmental behavior. It is not clear whether the COVID-19 crisis that started in 2019 had any uniform effect on pro-environmental behavior and decision making. In two preregistered panel studies conducted before and during the first COVID wave (n1 = 206, n2 = 164) and before and during the second COVID wave (n3 = n4 = 260), we found that the crisis had had no uniform effect on pro-environmental behaviors, environmental attitude, nor on the behavioral costs of general pro-environmental behavior. Analysis of one specific pro-environmental behavior, the choice of environmentally friendly delivery of products, revealed that the general preference for green delivery services and heightened preference for green delivery services among people with higher attitude levels remained unchanged by the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, if the COVID-19 crisis has had any effects on pro-environmental behaviors, these effects are probably fragmented, specific to certain population segments, and not visible in the short-term perspective.

Identifying Bias in Self-Reported Pro-Environmental Behavior

Identifying Bias in Self-Reported Pro-Environmental Behavior

Organisational Climate and Pro-environmental Behaviours at Work: The Mediating Role of Personal Norms.

Organisations are currently strongly encouraged to adopt more responsible production patterns aligned with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) in the workplace can strengthen the expected positive impacts of organisations’ environmental performance and engender more sustainable transitions to low-carbon production. Research on PEBs at work is relatively recent, so this field still lacks studies of the role of organisational policies and practices in workers’ adoption of these behaviours and of psychosocial processes that contribute to more sustainable workplaces. The present research examined how perceptions of organisations’ environmental policies and practices (i.e., organisational climate or injunctive norms) and of coworkers’ PEBs (i.e., descriptive norms) affect employees’ self-reported voluntary PEBs. Thogersen’s norm taxonomy model was also applied to address the role of personal norms. Self-commitment to sustainable goals at work can play a fundamental role in workers’ behavioural choices, so this research further investigated whether personal norms mediate the relationship between perceived pro-environmental organisational climate and reported workplace PEBs. To test the proposed model, data were collected on 210 workers from different business sectors, who completed an online questionnaire. The analyses showed that, after controlling for the effects of tenure, education level, and a management position, a pro-environmental organisational climate predicts stronger personal norms and a greater tendency to adopt PEBs at work (adjusted R squared=0.36), providing evidence of complete mediation. Coworkers’ perceived descriptive norms also contribute directly to self-reported PEBs. The discussion of the results focuses on the importance of organisational level initiatives as a way to promote change in individuals’ behaviours, which can have positive consequences for workplaces’ transition to sustainability.

Explaining the difference between the predictive power of value orientations and self-determined motivation for proenvironmental behavior

Previous research has shown that biospheric, altruistic, and egoistic values explain more variance in proenvironmental behavior than explained by the self-determined motivation that is linked to such behavior (i.e. motivation fueled by the fulfilment of basic psychological needs). However, these findings might stem from the relatively narrow measures of proenvironmental behavior employed in these studies. In two studies, we investigated the predictive power of self-determined motivation and value orientations in explaining broader measures of self-reported proenvironmental behavior. Our results support our expectation that self-determined motivation would remain a significant predictor of proenvironmental behavior after controlling for value orientations. In line with our expectations, self-determined motivation (vs. values) was more predictive of behavior that was predominantly guided by environmental motives. We discuss the implications of these results for the prediction of proenvironmental behavior.

Green Spaces in Chinese Schools Enhance Children's Environmental Attitudes and Pro-Environmental Behavior

Previous research has asserted that promoting connection to nature can enhance children's environmental attitudes and cultivate their pro-environmental behavior. School green spaces and educational programs have been recognized as important interventions toward this goal, although empirical study examining their effectiveness, especially in China, is rare. This study collected data from 1,597 students (9-12 years old) in southwest China. The study used the Two Major Environmental Values scale to measure two dimensions of children's environmental attitude—preservation and utilization—and used a project-specific pro-environmental behavior scale to measure children's self-reported pro-environmental behavior. The results found that students' perceived school environment is consistent with objective measures of “green space quality.” Meanwhile, students' perception of their school environment and their interactions with natural elements have a positive correlation with students' preservation attitude and pro-environmental behavior. School green activities have a negative correlation with a utilization environmental attitude. This study thus highlights the value of green campuses, and when supplemented by environmental pedagogical activities, they could significantly contribute to equipping children with environmental literacy.

Ego or Eco? Neither Ecological nor Egoistic Appeals of Persuasive Climate Change Messages Impacted Pro-Environmental Behavior

Based on the ‘Inclusion Model of Environmental Concern’, we tested whether daily messaging intervention increases participants’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB). In a two (time: pre vs. post, repeated measure) × three (condition: egoistic appeals, ecological appeals, control group) experimental design, two hundred and eighteen individuals received either daily messages containing egoistic appeals for action to prevent climate change (e.g., preventing personal consequences of released diseases in melting arctic ice), ecological appeals (e.g., ecological consequences of melting glaciers), or no messages (control). PEB was assessed via self-reports and donations to an environmental organization. Neither of the appeals had an effect on the two dependent measures. Irrespective of experimental conditions, self-reported PEB was higher in the post- compared with the pre-test. Overall, the present results do not provide support for the effectiveness of a daily messaging technique. Instead, it appears that ‘being observed’ is the more effective ‘intervention’. Implications for how to foster PEB are discussed.

Changing environmental behaviour from the bottom up: The formation of pro-environmental social identities

Increasingly initiatives are formed from the bottom-up, by for example community members themselves, to stimulate pro-environmental behaviour in their overarching group. But can such bottom-up initiatives motivate pro-environmental behaviour, and why? I propose that perceiving a pro-environmental initiative as formed by regular group members themselves (i.e. from the bottom up) enables pro-environmental social identity formation, motivating behaviour accordingly. Three field studies around different initiatives supported this. Perceived bottom-up formation is positively associated with pro-environmental social identity (in content and strength), for members of the initiative (Study 1) and the overarching group (Study 2), and bottom-up pro-environmental initiative salience strengthens pro-environmental social identity in the overarching group (Study 3). Perceived bottom-up formation partly relates to self-reported pro-environmental behaviour (Study 2) and intentions (Studies 1 and 3) via pro-environmental social identity. Bottom-up pro-environmental initiatives may thus accelerate the transition towards pro-environmental practices; theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The effects of idealism and relativism on the moral judgement of social vs. environmental issues, and their relation to self-reported pro-environmental behaviours.

Many studies have demonstrated that moral philosophies, such as idealism and relativism, could be used as robust predictors of judgements and behaviours related to common moral issues, such as business ethics, unethical beliefs, workplace deviance, marketing practices, gambling, etc. However, little consideration has been given to using moral philosophies to predict environmentally (un)friendly attitudes and behaviours, which could also be classified as moral. In this study, we have assessed the impact of idealism and relativism using the Ethics Position Theory. We have tested its capacity to predict moral identity, moral judgement of social vs. environmental issues, and self-reported pro-environmental behaviours. The results from an online MTurk study of 432 US participants revealed that idealism had a significant impact on all the tested variables, but the case was different with relativism. Consistently with the findings of previous studies, we found relativism to be a strong predictor of moral identity and moral judgement of social issues. In contrast, relativism only weakly interacted with making moral judgements of environmental issues, and had no effects in predicting pro-environmental behaviours. These findings suggest that Ethics Position Theory could have a strong potential for defining moral differences between environmental attitudes and behaviours, capturing the moral drivers of an attitude-behaviour gap, which continuously stands as a barrier in motivating people to become more pro-environmental.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION TO BOOST PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR IN REDUCING PLASTICS CONSUMPTION AMONG STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITAS BINA DARMA PALEMBANG

This study investigates university students' perception, attitude, and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour concerning plastic consumption and pollution pre- and post-environmental education (EE). There were 161 students participating in the EE and completing questionnaires. These data were collected from the students of Universitas Bina Darma in Palembang, Indonesia. The analysis process employed Wilcoxon sign-rank tests. The findings exhibit that students perception, attitude, and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour regarding plastic consumption and pollution significantly increased after the implementation of environmental education. This study can benefit universities, governments, and non-governmental bodies for policymaking and other environmental decisions to reduce plastic consumption and pollution for more sustainable future. KEYWORDS: Plastic Pollution, Indonesia, Sustainability, Environmental Education, Ethical Consumption