Environmental deterioration has become a topical issue in recent decades. Its manifestations are evident in water and air pollution, depletion of natural resources, a loss of biodiversity, and climate change, and human activities appear to be the main cause of these effects (Gkargkavouzi et al., 2019). In order to contain further degradation of the earth, scholars and activists developed environmentalism, which is a philosophy and a social movement focused on protecting the environment (Heidmets & Raudsepp, 2001). One important area of research in environmentalism is human pro-environmental behaviors and what contributes to those behaviors or hinders them. This literature review aims to synthesize scholarly findings regarding factors that affect human pro-environmental behaviors. Researchers argue that people’s willingness to protect the environment is influenced by their identities, social norms, attitudes, values, and beliefs.
A literature review has helped identify several scholars who focused their research on exploring factors related to human pro-environmental behaviors. In particular, Dietz (2020), whose scholarly interest lies in the field of human ecology and environmental policy, traced a history of environmentalism in his article and emphasized the importance of integrating social science in environmental research. Heidmets and Raudsepp (2001) support this view by proposing a conceptual framework consisting of two major concepts: “environmental behavior” and “environmental mentality” (p. 198). Gkargkavouzi et al. (2019) also focus on the social dimension of environmentalism by integrating a range of environmental theories to study the determinants of environmental behavior. Likewise, Milfont et al. (2019) used such theories to investigate the impact of political ideology and morality on people’s environmental behaviors. Finally, Yang et al. (2021) conducted a similar study with important practical implications for practitioners responsible for crafting pro-environmental campaigns. Each of these scholars made an important contribution to understanding factors that influence human behaviors in relation to the environment.
There are a number of theories aiming to explain people’s behaviors toward the environment. These theories use two main broad terms: environmental behavior and environmental mentality (Heidmets & Raudsepp, 2001). For example, according to the theory of planned behavior, individuals demonstrate environmental behavior if they strongly intend to do so (Gkargkavouzi et al., 2019). This intention stems from their “attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control,” which are components of environmental mentality (Gkargkavouzi et al., 2019, p. 148). The norm-activation theory posits that individuals display environmental behaviors when they feel morally obligated to do so (Milfont et al., 2019). In this theory, moral obligation stems from problem awareness, a feeling of responsibility, outcome efficacy, and self-efficacy. Yang et al. (2021) used a theory of the influence of presumed influence, according to which people will engage in pro-environmental behaviors reinforced by media if they perceive that others will act on this media message. Overall, a common feature of these theories is that they assume that individuals’ environmental behaviors stem from their mentality, which includes attitudes, beliefs, and social norms.
Although no disagreement on the importance of studying factors influencing environmental behaviors has been found in the literature, it has been identified that researchers focus on different aspects when integrating social science in environmental research. For example, Dietz’s (2020) main argument is that political affiliation, which is part of personal identity and values, plays a significant role in people’s support of environmental policies and engagement in sustainable behaviors. He argues that Democrats tend to have more pro-environmental attitudes than Republicans and Independents. Similarly, Milfont et al. (2019) found that liberal political attitudes were more likely to be associated with pro-environmental behaviors than conservative ones. They also discovered that care- and fairness-based morality predicted individuals’ involvement in sustainable behaviors. In contrast, Gkargkavouzi et al. (2019) focused on personal characteristics related to environmental behaviors. They discovered that individuals who felt morally obliged to preserve the environment, conformed to social expectations, had positive attitudes toward environmental conservation, and were confident in their ability to protect nature were more likely to exhibit pro-environmental behaviors (Gkargkavouzi et al., 2019).
Yang et al. (2021) provided a different perspective, investigating a social dimension of environmental behavior. Researchers found that individuals were more likely to engage in sustainable behaviors after receiving a media message if they believed that others were influenced by this message and were going to take action (Yang et al., 2021). Finally, Heidmets & Raudsepp (2001) summarize various factors that were explored by mentioned scholars. Heidmets & Raudsepp (2001) note that environmental behaviors are shaped by an interplay of personal and social factors, including social norms, dominating value systems, and personality traits. These ideas can help policymakers develop policies that will take the mentioned factors into account to encourage people’s engagement in environmental behaviors.
The ideas in this research field come from different geographic regions. For example, the influence of political identity on environmental behavior was noted in the work of the US scholar Dietz (2020) and New Zealand researchers Milfont et al. (2019). The idea of media influence on environmental behavior was evident in work by Asian scholars Yang et al. (2021). Finally, ideas originating from European countries – Estonia in the case of Heidmets & Raudsepp (2001) and Greece in the case of Gkargkavouzi et al. (2019) – were more concerned with personal characteristics and social expectations.
The area of consensus in the field lies in scholars’ understanding of the importance of studying environmentalism from the perspective of social science. It means that researchers realize the significant role that humans and societies play in protecting the environment, so they make efforts to understand what leads people to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Although various scholars may focus on different factors, the common idea is that uncovering impacts on sustainable behaviors will help policymakers develop more effective campaigns to encourage people to demonstrate pro-environmental behaviors.
References
Dietz, T. (2020). Earth day: 50 years of continuity and change in environmentalism.One Earth, 2(4), 306-308. Web.
Gkargkavouzi, A., Halkos, G., & Matsiori, S. (2019). Environmental behavior in a private-sphere context: Integrating theories of planned behavior and value belief norm, self-identity and habit.Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 148, 145-156. Web.
Heidmets, M., & Raudsepp, M. (2001). A conceptual framework for studying environmental mentality and behavior. Trames, 5(3), 198-210.
Milfont, T. L., Davies, C. L., & Wilson, M. S. (2019). The moral foundations of environmentalism: Care- and fairness-based morality interact with political liberalism to predict pro-environmental actions.Social Psychological Bulletin, 14(2), e32633. Web.
Yang, X., Wei, R., & Ho, S. S. (2021). If others care, I will fight climate change: An examination of media effects in addressing the public goods dilemma of climate change mitigation. International Journal of Communication, 15, 3315-3335.