Search

Psychological ownership of nature (i.e., the feeling that nature is "mine" or "ours") has been examined to encourage pro-environmental behaviors. However, a psychometrically validated measure that assesses the core of the construct is currently lacking, which undercuts its value and growing research efforts. Following recommended procedures, this paper developed and validated 6-item scales of individual and collective psychological ownership of nature, using a representative sample of Australian adults (total N = 836). The two scales exhibited high reliability and evidence of convergent, discriminant, predictive, and incremental validity, with measurement invariance across gender, age, and political subgroups. The validated individual and collective psychological ownership of nature scales were statistically distinct from proximate constructs (e.g., connection to nature and place attachment). The two scales had unique power in explaining civic pro-environmental behaviors, over and above connection to nature. Collective (but not individual) psychological ownership of nature contributed additional variance over place attachment in civic pro-environmental behaviors. This paper advances research on psychological ownership of nature by offering validated scales measuring the core of this increasingly important construct. • Psychological ownership of nature (PON) refers to one's feeling that nature is "mine" or "ours". • We develop and validate 6-item (or shortened 3-item) scales of individual and collective PON. • The two PON scales exhibit high reliability, construct and criterion-related validity, and measurement invariance. • Individual and collective PON are statistically distinct from proximate concepts (connection to nature and place attachment). • Individual and collective PON are positively linked to civic pro-environmental behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic relationship self-efficacy holds with behaviour leads us to suggest that self-efficacy may be a mediating mechanism for spillover. We tested this proposition by investigating whether engaging in simple and easy pro-environmental behaviour is associated with self-efficacy, which then increases intentions and subsequent actions towards new or more challenging pro-environmental behaviours. We tested this hypothesis in two studies using Australian residents. The first demonstrated spillover from easy water-related behaviours to more difficult water-related behavioural intentions, and the second study used longitudinal data to provide evidence for spillover from easy water conservation behaviours to the more difficult self-reported actions of installing water efficient appliances. Both studies supported our prediction of self-efficacy mediating the relationship between easy and more difficult pro-environmental self-reported behaviour. These results suggest that self-efficacy may be an important motivator of environmental spillover, and could be used to help encourage engagement in more challenging pro-environmental behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotions can greatly influence behavior, yet research on links between incidental emotions and pro-environmental behavior is limited. The present study uses an experience sampling design to examine how pride and guilt relate to daily pro-environmental behavior. Ninety-six university students recorded their engagement in specific pro-environmental behaviors, and their feelings of pride and guilt about these behaviors, at four time points each day for three consecutive days. Results showed that pro-environmental behavior during a 2.5-h time period was positively related to pride, and negatively related to guilt, during that same time period. Pride about environmental behavior was positively related to subsequent engagement in pro-environmental behavior (i.e., during the following 2.5-h time period), but only for people who perceived more positive pro-environmental descriptive norms. Guilt was not related to subsequent pro-environmental behavior. We discuss implications for further research on the complex associations between daily experiences of moral emotions and pro-environmental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies reveal that the more efficacious people feel in their ability to combat climate change, the more threatened they feel by it. This positive correlation deserves unpacking, given that classic theories position efficacy beliefs as coping appraisals that help manage threats. First, we tested whether the relationship is an artifact of overlap with a latent variable that is implicated in both threat and efficacy: “green” identity. Second, we tested whether efficacy perceptions are (partly) motivated cognitions designed to ameliorate helplessness in the face of threat. Study 1 ( N = 4345 Australians) replicated the positive correlation between threat and efficacy, and showed that the relationships remained after controlling for green identity. Direct evidence for motivated control was found in Study 2 ( N = 212 Americans): Participants who read a high-threat message reported more (collective) efficacy than did those who read a climate change message that downplayed threat. Implications for theoretical models of control are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Faced with a severe drought, the residents of the regional city of Toowoomba, in South East Queensland, Australia were asked to consider a potable wastewater reuse scheme to supplement drinking water supplies. As public risk perceptions and trust have been shown to be key factors in acceptance of potable reuse projects, this research developed and tested a social-psychological model of trust, risk perceptions and acceptance. Participants (N = 380) were surveyed a few weeks before a referendum was held in which residents voted against the controversial scheme. Analysis using structural equation modelling showed that the more community members perceived that the water authority used fair procedures (e.g., consulting with the community and providing accurate information), the greater their sense of shared identity with the water authority. Shared social identity in turn influenced trust via increased source credibility, that is, perceptions that the water authority is competent and has the community's interest at heart. The findings also support past research showing that higher levels of trust in the water authority were associated with lower perceptions of risk, which in turn were associated with higher levels of acceptance, and vice versa. The findings have a practical application for improving public acceptance of potable recycled water schemes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In light of the current and future threats to global water security the current research focuses on trialing interventions to promote urban water conservation. We report an experimental study designed to test the long-term impact of three different interventions on household water consumption in South East Queensland. Participants from 221 households were recruited and completed an initial survey, and their houses were fitted with smart water meters which measured total water usage at 5 s intervals. Households were allocated into one of four conditions: a control group and three interventions groups (water saving information alone, information plus a descriptive norm manipulation, and information plus tailored end-user feedback). The study is the first to use smart water metering technology as a tool for behaviour change as well as a way to test the effectiveness of demand management interventions. Growth curve modelling revealed that compared to the control, the three intervention groups all showed reduced levels of household consumption (an average reduction of 11.3 L per person per day) over the course of the interventions, and for some months afterwards. All interventions led to significant water savings, but long-term household usage data showed that in all cases, the reduction in water use resulting from the interventions eventually dissipated, with water consumption returning to pre-intervention levels after approximately 12 months. Implications for water demand management programs are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study incorporated identity constructs into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to investigate intentions to engage in environmental activism. First year students and participants of a students of sustainability conference (n=169) were administered a questionnaire survey that measured standard TPB constructs as well as environmental group membership and self-identity as an environmental activist. Consistent with predictions, environmental group membership and self-identity were positive predictors of intentions. Thus, greater involvement in environmental groups and a stronger sense of the self as an environmental activist were associated with stronger intentions to engage in environmental activism. There was also evidence that self-identity was a stronger predictor of intentions for participants with low rather than high environmental group membership. In accordance with the standard TPB model, participants with more positive attitudes toward and a greater sense of normative support for environmental activism also had greater intentions to engage in the behaviour. The implications for groups seeking to harness support for activities to protect the environment are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Water quality is a key concern in the current global environment, with the need to promote practices that help to protect water quality, such as riparian zone management, being paramount. The present study used the theory of planned behaviour as a framework for understanding how beliefs influence decisions about riparian zone management. Respondents completed a survey that assessed their behavioural, normative, and control beliefs in relation to intentions to manage riparian zones on their property. The results of the study showed that, overall, landholders with strong intentions to manage their riparian zones differed significantly in terms of their beliefs compared to landholders who had weak intentions to manage their riparian zones. Strong intentions to manage riparian zones were associated with a favourable cost–benefit analysis, greater perceptions of normative support for the practice and lower perceptions of the extent to which barriers would impede management of riparian zones. It was also evident that willingness to comply with the recommendations of salient referents, beliefs about the benefits of riparian zone management and perceptions of the extent to which barriers would impede riparian zone management were most important for determining intentions to manage riparian zones. Implications for policy and extension practice are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Environmental organizations use a variety of text based communication formats to mobilize supporters to take collective action on their behalf. Yet we know little about the characteristics of collective action communication used by environmental organizations, nor its mobilization potential. In this paper we investigate whether environmental organizations' website communication reflects variables focal to the Social Identity Model of Collective Action that are known to motivate intentions to engage in collective action: identity, negative emotions, and efficacy. We use Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text analysis software to investigate the extent to which linguistic cues associated with these focal variables are communicated in text obtained from 497 environmental advocacy organizations' websites. Findings demonstrate that environmental groups use identity and efficacy language more than the LIWC comparison text corpus, but show consistently low usage of both negative and positive emotion language. Our analyses also suggest that groups with the greatest financial resources use identity and efficacy language more frequently than groups with fewer financial resources. We suggest that future research investigating the effects of linguistic cues on message receivers is an important next step for both advancing the SIMCA framework as well as assisting environmental organizations' ability to more effectively mobilize supporters through text based communication formats. • Environmental group websites use language that makes identity and efficacy salient. • In contrast to SIMCA they do not use language which make emotions salient. • Groups with more financial resources use identity and efficacy words more in communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The populations most susceptible to environmental degradation are often the populations that rely most on the natural world for sustenance. Within the many isolated islands that are part of rural Indonesia, many communities are dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, but paradoxically members of these communities often engage in practices that destroy their natural resources. The current research uses survey methodology to investigate determinants of sustainable behavioral intentions of participants (N = 104) living in coastal communities in Sulawesi, Indonesia—specifically through the lens of an adapted theory of planned behavior model. Results showed that participants with stronger intentions to use nets and lines to fish had more negative attitudes to destructive fishing, a greater sense that their behavior and that of their community affects marine life, and greater belief that other villages are responsible for degrading reefs. Participants with stronger intentions to prevent their waste from going into the ocean had more negative attitudes to throwing waste in the ocean, greater perceptions of control over the behavior, and more positive perceptions of change in the health of the reefs. Although some of the findings align with theory and past research, some were unexpected, highlighting the importance of conducting research to identify motivators of sustainable practices in developing world, low resource communities. • An adapted TPB was a significant predictor of behavioral intentions for fishing and waste management. • Perceptions of change, awareness of consequences, and responsibility diffusion were additional predictors. • Understanding models of behavioral intentions can help design effective and sustainable solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]