A “Lockdown” of Materialism Values and Pro-Environmental Behavior: Short-Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led to serious restrictions on peoples’ everyday lives and had severe economic impacts. In contrast, “lockdown” restrictions led to short-term beneficial effects for the environment. In the present study, we compared pro-environmental behavior and materialism values before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the spring of 2020. The results of an online study using 370 participants showed a decrease in materialism values and pro-environmental sacrificing actions. In contrast, ecologically compatible actions decreased during the lockdown and increased again to the initial level after restrictions were loosened. Moreover, pro-environmental attitudes had a diminishing effect on materialism values, especially during lockdown restrictions. Agreeableness had a diminishing effect on materialism values during the lockdown. In contrast, trait narcissism enhanced materialism values, which were strongest after the lockdown was over. In conclusion, materialism values and pro-environmental behaviors were “locked down” due to COVID-19 restrictions but did not show the expected rebound effects. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

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PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR AND RECYCLING: LITERATURE REVIEW AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

Ambiente & sociedade ◽

10.1590/1809-4422asoc0209r3vu18l4ao ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

Author(s):

EDUARDO CHIERRITO-ARRUDA ◽

ANA LUISA MARTINS ROSA ◽

EDNEIA APARECIDA DE SOUZA PACCOLA ◽

REGIANE DA SILVA MACUCH ◽

RUTE GROSSI-MILANI

Keyword(s):

Social Norms ◽

Public Management ◽

Political Action ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Environmental Behavior ◽

Public Policies ◽

Environmental Behaviors ◽

Environmental Attitudes And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

Attitudes And Behavior

Abstract The environmental scenario requires the participation of the society in the integration of individual responsibilities to the political action. The recycling pro-environmental behavior contributes to the proper disposal of solid waste, a major challenge in urban public management. The article aims to analyze the scientific production of the pro-environmental behaviors and recycling in order to weave notes that promote behavioral changes provided for in public policies. The PsycINFO, Scielo and EBSCOhost databases were consulted using the keywords: environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behavior and recycling. We selected 51 articles, among which predominated the investigation into motivation to recycle behavior, influence of social network and social norms. Environmental attitudes and behavior to recycle have shown to be related to social norms, motivation, identity, altruism and awareness; these should be considered when planning public policies and environmental awareness actions.

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Factors Affecting Environmental Activism, Nonactivist Behaviors, and the Private Sphere Green Behaviors of Thai University Students

Education and Urban Society ◽

10.1177/0013124519877149 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 52 (4) ◽

pp. 619-648

Author(s):

Janmaimool Piyapong

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Environmental Behavior ◽

Environmental Activism ◽

Environmental Knowledge ◽

Private Sphere ◽

Environmental Behaviors ◽

Grade Point ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes

University students are expected by the general public to be active in pro-environmental behaviors due to their environmental knowledge and relevant education. However, it is still unclear whether students only educated in environmental knowledge will decide to engage in green behaviors. This study investigates factors that determine university students’ pro-environmental behaviors, which include environmental activism, nonactivism, and private sphere environmental activities. A proposed model for investigating such factors, which include environmental knowledge and attitudes, self-efficacy, self-obligation, behavioral control, and sociodemographic characteristics, was developed. Questionnaire surveys with 337 students enrolled at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in the city of Bangkok, Thailand, were carried out. Multiple regression analyses were performed to test the effect of these potential factors on each type of behavior. The results showed that providing only environmental knowledge at a university may not contribute to any kind of pro-environmental behavior. It was found that environmental knowledge and attitudes had a significant effect on students’ nonactivist behaviors. Without positive environmental attitudes, but with environmental knowledge and self-efficacy, students decided to engage in environmental activism. In addition, male students were more likely to engage in environmental activism than female students. Finally, students’ engagement in private sphere green behaviors was attributed to self-obligation, environmental knowledge, and environmental attitudes, as well as grade point average (GPA). Students with a higher GPA were more likely to act environmentally. Therefore, to promote each type of environmental behavior, different environmental education strategies should be developed.

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Measuring Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors

10.1007/978-3-030-85796-7_2 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 15-35

Author(s):

Markus Hadler ◽

Beate Klösch ◽

Stephan Schwarzinger ◽

Markus Schweighart ◽

Rebecca Wardana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Intentions ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Environmental Behavior ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Environmental Behaviors ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

Theoretical Approaches ◽

Self Reports ◽

And Behaviors

AbstractThis chapter provides an overview of the theoretical approaches to environmental attitudes and behaviors. It includes a discussion of different scales and surveys used in other programs with a focus on this topic. Scales measuring general environmental behavior, just like items in surveys, tend to focus on behavioral intentions and are correlated with environmentally friendly attitudes. In contrast, emission-related behavior depends more on context and socio-demographic characteristics and is rarely asked in surveys. Gaps frequently occur between environmental attitudes and general behaviors—the value-action gap—and between environmental behaviors and the actual ecological consequences of actions—the behavior-impact gap. Finally, previous results and problems encountered in the validation of self-reports on environmental behavior are highlighted.

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