No Single Psychological Factor Can Predict Pro-Environmental Behavior

Some environmental education initiatives aim to increase pro-environmental behavior, such as reducing energy consumption or conserving water. Previous research offers a variety of theories about the interactions between different psychological and pro-environmental behavior. By testing these theories, we can further our understanding of how to encourage pro-environmental behavior and therefore develop more effective programs to that end.

Evidence from previous studies indicates that several psychological factors strongly influence pro-environmental behavior. Environmental attitudes are one such factor, referring to a person's beliefs and feelings toward environmental topics or issues. Another is social identity, which is a person's sense of belonging to a particular group. Institutional norms are also significant, meaning the “policies, procedures and practices” that establish an unspoken understanding of what's considered to be normal behavior among a group of people. Previous research has also suggested that these various psychological factors may influence each other. The purpose of this study was to test multiple theories of the interaction between environmental attitudes, social identity, institutional norms, and environmental behavior.

The authors chose a longitudinal approach, meaning they tested the relationships between the different factors over time. The study took place at university in Spain, where the authors surveyed 298 undergraduate and graduate students (with an average age of 26). The students filled out a questionnaire twice, two months apart, in which they rated a series of statements related to their environmental attitudes, social identity, pro-environmental behavior, and perceptions of pro-environmental institutional norms. The authors then used statistical analyses to measure relationships between the initial responses and later responses for each of the four factors.

The results indicate that initial pro-environmental behavior is the only factor that predicted later pro-environmental behavior. The authors suggest that this outcome could be partly explained by previous research which indicates that behavior over time becomes more habitual and less intentional. Results also indicated that initial social identity significantly affects later environmental attitudes, and initial institutional norms have a significant effect on later social identity. But the survey results did not show a relationship between initial behavior and future attitudes, nor between initial social identity and future intuitional norms.

The authors only tested the relationships between a single initial factor and a single later factor. They did not test whether combinations of multiple initial factors could significantly predict later outcomes, which could provide insight into the interactions between the different factors. Future studies could also conduct more complex statistical analyses to test interactions between multiple factors over time. Also, the authors surveyed a convenience sample of students, not a representative sample of students across different demographics. They recommend that future researchers should attempt to survey a broader audience in order to confirm that their results hold true for the general population.

This study put a number of psychological theories to the test, and the results further our understanding of how attitudes, identities, and norms interact over short periods of time. The authors' results indicate that pro-environmental behavior cannot be predicted based on any single psychological factor. Pro-environmental behavior does, however, appear to reinforce itself over time. Based on this result, the authors recommend that efforts to promote pro-environmental behaviors could focus on making changes that make behavior easier and more habitual, as opposed to trying to influence behavior through changing environmental attitudes.

The authors conclude that and institutional norms significantly influence future social identity. This is the first study to demonstrate a predictive relationship between institutional norms and social identity. This result is significant because it demonstrates a link between an individual's psychology and the behaviors & beliefs of people around them. The authors also conclude that social identity significantly influences future environmental attitudes. In other words, an individual's environmental attitudes may be significantly influenced by their social relationships with other people.