Testing the Importance of Individuals’ Motives for Explaining Environmentally Significant Behavior*

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 644-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sverker C. Jagers ◽  
Stefan Linde ◽  
Johan Martinsson ◽  
Simon Matti
Keyword(s):  
Environmentally Significant Behavior

scholarly journals Good Intents, but Low Impacts: Diverging Importance of Motivational and Socioeconomic Determinants Explaining Pro-Environmental Behavior, Energy Use, and Carbon Footprint

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 626-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Moser ◽  
Silke Kleinhückelkotten
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Carbon Footprints ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Environmentally Significant Behavior ◽  
Oriented Research

Earlier research has yielded contradictory results as to the main drivers of environmentally significant behavior. Intent-oriented research has stressed the importance of motivational aspects, while impact-oriented research has drawn attention to people’s socioeconomic status. In this study, we investigated the diverging role of a pro-environmental stance under these two research perspectives. Data from a German survey ( N = 1,012) enabled assessment of per capita energy use, and individual carbon footprints (impact-related measures), pro-environmental behavior (an intent-related measure), and behavior indicators varying in environmental impact and intent. Regression analyses revealed people’s environmental self-identity to be the main predictor of pro-environmental behavior; however, environmental self-identity played an ambiguous role in predicting actual environmental impacts. Instead, environmental impacts were best predicted by people’s income level. Our results show that individuals with high pro-environmental self-identity intend to behave in an ecologically responsible way, but they typically emphasize actions that have relatively small ecological benefits.

scholarly journals Understanding Pro-Environmental Behavior in the US: Insights from Grid-Group Cultural Theory and Cognitive Sociology

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Markle
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Cognitive Sociology ◽  
Environmental Orientation ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Environmentally Significant Behavior

For almost fifty years researchers have endeavored to identify the factors that influence individuals’ performance of environmentally significant behavior, with inconsistent results. This quest has become even more urgent as newly released scientific reports provide mounting evidence of global climate change and other types of anthropogenic environmental degradation. In order to change individuals’ behavior on a large scale, it is necessary to change their habits of thinking. Using insights from Grid-group cultural theory and cognitive sociology, this mixed-methods study examined the factors that influence pro-environmental behavior among a nationally representative US sample (n = 395). Qualitative results indicate that individuals develop culturally-specific environmental socio-cognitive schemas which they use to assign meaning to the environment and guide their environmentally significant behavior. Quantitative results indicate cultural orientation, pro-environmental orientation, environment identity, and environmental influence predict pro-environmental behavior. Applying these combined theoretical perspectives to the social problem of environmental degradation could facilitate the development of targeted strategies for bringing about impactful behavioral change.

scholarly journals Fleshing out the theory of planned of behavior: Meat consumption as an environmentally significant behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif Naz Çoker ◽  
Sander van der Linden
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Control ◽  
Meat Consumption ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Western World ◽  
Meat Industry ◽  
Environmental Interventions ◽  
Consumption Behavior ◽  
Past Behavior ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Environmentally Significant Behavior

AbstractThe meat industry is a leading cause of climate change in the Western world, and while reducing meat consumption has often been studied as a health behavior, it is equally important to understand its significance as a pro-environmental behavior. In a national sample of the United Kingdom (N = 737, Time 1, N = 468, Time 2) we sought to evaluate to what extent the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is an effective model for understanding people’s intentions to reduce their meat consumption. Overall, we find that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control explain 57% of the variation in intentions to reduce meat consumption. In turn, past behavior and intention explain 31% of the variance in self-reported meat consumption behavior four weeks later. Somewhat surprisingly, habit did not have any predictive utility over and above the TPB constructs. The effectiveness of the TPB and implications for devising pro-environmental interventions are discussed.

scholarly journals Justifying environmentally significant behavior choices: An American-Hungarian cross-cultural comparison

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judit Kovács ◽  
József Pántya ◽  
Dóra Medvés ◽  
István Hidegkuti ◽  
Orsolya Heim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Comparison ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Behavior Choices ◽  
Environmentally Significant Behavior

scholarly journals Moderating Effects of Trust on Environmentally Significant Behavior in Korea

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong-Gin Moon ◽  
Seong Jeong ◽  
Yongrok Choi
Keyword(s):  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Environmentally Significant Behavior
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