Environmental behaviour

Read an insightful article wriiten by Paul Stern, a renowned environmental psychologist. It is about the what factors determine intended environmental behaviours. Here I summarize the key points.

First, there are four (or three) main types of environmental behaviours:
1. Environmental activism, e.g. active involvement in environmental organizations and demonstrations;

2. Public-sphere non-activism -
(a), Environmental citizenship, e.g. petitioning on environmental issues, joining environmental organizations;
(b), Policy support or acceptance, stated approval of environmental regulations, willingness to pay higher taxes for environmental protection

3. Private-sphere environmentalism, e.g. purchase of environmentally friendly products, green comsumerism.

Four types of causal variables influencing these behaviours are proposed:
1. Attitudinal, e.g. general and specific environmental beliefs, personal norms, perceived costs and benefits of the action

2. Personal capabilities, e.g. social status, income, specific skills

3. Contextual factors, e.g. laws and regulations, social norms and expectations, supporting policies

4. Habit and routine


The author notes that different causal variables appear to work different ways in influencing behaviours. For costly, complex and difficult environmental decisions (e.g. reducing automobile use in suburb), personal capabilities and contextual factors are more important. For those 'easy' behaviours (e.g. reducing the use of papers), attitudinal factors play major role.


Two points to note.
Firstly, the bases of private- and public-sphere environmental behaviours are different. To me, it means that my WTP (willingness-to-pay) for organic foods runs in a different mental track from paying an ecotax to support organic farming - one is about personal consumption while the other a social committment. (so, some people may say they support a government environmental policy but in fact do not personally behave green. This reflects there are different combinations of causal factors in action).
Secondly, contextual factors have to be considered (many previous studies have ignored). These involve broader social, economic and political contexts surrounding specific environmental issues. As far as climate change is concerned, personal attitudinal factors are but one of the determinants of people's intended contributions, which may also be affected by existing policy constraints and attitude, perceived reliability of scientific reports, and social trust.

Extended reading: Paul C. Stern (2000), Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior, Journal of Social Issues, 56 (3), pp. 407-424