Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-08T16:39:46.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interactions among Locus of Control, Environmental Attitudes and Pro-Environmental Behaviour in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2019

Madeline M Giefer ,
M Nils Peterson  and
Xiaodong Chen
Madeline M Giefer*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
M Nils Peterson
Affiliation:
Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
Xiaodong Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Madeline M. Giefer, Email: mmgiefer@live.unc.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Promoting environmentally conscious behaviour requires an understanding of the complex cognitive mechanisms by which people decide to act environmentally. Research suggests that locus of control (LOC), or the extent to which a person feels his or her own actions can produce broader change, is an important predictor of environmental behaviour; however, little is known about how LOC interacts with other cognitive motivators. This study uses a nationwide survey from China to test whether LOC moderates the effect of environmental attitudes on behaviour. Respondents with external LOC (i.e., those who believe personal actions cannot produce change) reported lower pro-environmental behaviour than those with internal LOC (i.e., those who believe personal actions can produce change). In addition, the influence of environmental attitudes on pro-environmental behaviour was stronger among respondents with external LOC than those with internal LOC. These results support efforts to promote conservation in China by promoting internal LOC and add a novel suggestion that attitude-based messaging is more efficacious among audiences with external LOC.

Keywords

environmental messaginghousehold consumptionnatural resourcesnew environmental paradigm
Type
Research Paper
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 46 , Issue 3: Thematic Section: Bringing Species and Ecosystems Together with Remote Sensing Tools to Develop New Biodiversity Metrics and Indicators , September 2019 , pp. 234 - 240
Copyright
© Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ajzen, I (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50(2), 179–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, JB and Ferrand, JL (1999) Environmental locus of control, sympathy, and proenvironmental behavior a test of Geller’s actively caring hypothesis. Environment and Behavior 31(3), 338–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bechtel, RB, Corral-Verdugo, V, Asai, M and Riesle, AG (2006) A cross-cultural study of environmental belief structures in USA, Japan, Mexico, and Peru. International Journal of Psychology 41(2), 145–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, IE and Corbin, RM (1992) Perceived consumer effectiveness and faith in others as moderators of environmentally responsible behaviors. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 11(2), 79–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, J (1999) Overcoming the ‘value-action gap’ in environmental policy: tensions between national policy and local experience. Local Environment 4(3), 257–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bond, MH and Hwang, KK (1986) The Social Psychology of Chinese People. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bratt, C (1999) The impact of norms and assumed consequences on recycling behavior. Environment and Behavior 31(5), 630–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, X, Peterson, MN, Hull, V, Lu, C, Lee, GD, Hong, D and Liu, J (2011) Effects of attitudinal and sociodemographic factors on pro-environmental behaviour in urban China. Environmental Conservation 38(1), 45–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, H, Hu, Y and Zhao, J. (2009) Meeting China’s water shortage crisis: current practices and challenges. Environmental Science & Technology 43(2), 240–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diekmann, A and Preisendörfer, P (1998) Environmental behavior: discrepancies between aspirations and reality. Rationality and Society 10(1), 79–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunlap, RE (2008) The new environmental paradigm scale: from marginality to worldwide use. Journal of Environmental Education 40(1), 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunlap, RE and Van Liere, KD (1978) The ‘new environmental paradigm’. Journal of Environmental Education 9(4), 10–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunlap, RE, Van Liere, KD, Mertig, AG and Jones, RE (2000) New trends in measuring environmental attitudes: measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: a revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues 56(3), 425–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engqvist Jonsson, AK and Nilsson, A (2014) Exploring the relationship between values and pro-environmental behaviour: the influence of locus of control. Environmental Values 23(3), 297–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feng, W and Reisner, A (2011) Factors influencing private and public environmental protection behaviors: results from a survey of residents in Shaanxi, China. Journal of Environmental Management 92(3), 429–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiori, KL, Brown, EE, Cortina, KS and Antonucci, TC (2006) Locus of control as a mediator of the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction: age, race, and gender differences. Mental Health, Religion and Culture 9(3), 239–263.Google Scholar
Fishbein, M and Ajzen, I (1975) Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fornara, F, Carrus, G, Passafaro, P and Bonnes, M (2011) Distinguishing the sources of normative influence on proenvironmental behaviors: the role of local norms in household waste recycling. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations 14(5), 623–635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fransson, N and Gärling, T (1999) Environmental concern: conceptual definitions, measurement methods, and research findings. Journal of Environmental Psychology 19(4), 369–382.Google ScholarPubMed
Gifford, R and Nilsson, A (2014) Personal and social factors that influence pro-environmental concern and behaviour: a review. International Journal of Psychology 49(3), 141–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamid, PN and Cheng, ST (1995) Predicting antipollution behavior the role of molar behavioral intentions, past behavior, and locus of control. Environment and Behavior 27(5), 679–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Han, H (2015) Travelers’ pro-environmental behavior in a green lodging context: converging value-belief-norm theory and the theory of planned behavior. Tourism Management 47, 164–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, PG (2006) Environmental perspectives and behavior in China: synopsis and bibliography. Environment and Behavior 38(1), 5–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawcroft, LJ and Milfont, TL (2010) The use (and abuse) of the new environmental paradigm scale over the last 30 years: a meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology 30(2), 143–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawthorne, M and Alabaster, T (1999) Citizen 2000: development of a model of environmental citizenship. Global Environmental Change 9(1), 25–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hines, JM, Hungerford, HR and Tomera, AN (1987) Analysis and synthesis of research on responsible environmental behavior: a meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Education 18(2), 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, LM, Hatch, A and Johnson, A (2004) Cross-national gender variation in environmental behaviors. Social Science Quarterly 85(3), 677–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, S and Lee, JW (2007) Demographic changes, saving, and current account in East Asia. Asian Economic Papers 6(2), 22–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kollmuss, A and Agyeman, J (2002) Mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research 8(3), 239–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kormanik, M and Rocco, T (2009) Internal versus external control of reinforcement: a review of the locus of control construct. Human Resource Development Review 8(4), 463–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J and Diamond, J (2005) China’s environment in a globalizing world. Nature 435(7046), 1179–1186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, M, Williams, ID and Clark, M (2006) Social, cultural and structural influences on household waste recycling: a case study. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 48(4), 357–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, LJ, Hine, DW, Please, PM and Driver, AB (2015) Applying behavioral theories to invasive animal management: towards an integrated framework. Journal of Environmental Management 161, 63–71.Google Scholar
McNairn, HE and Mitchell, B (1992) Locus of control and farmer orientation: effects on conservation adoption. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 5(1), 87–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-Being. Washington, DC: Island Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newhouse, N (1990) Implications of attitude and behavior research for environmental conservation. Journal of Environmental Education 22(1), 26–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sastry, J and Ross, CE (1998) Asian ethnicity and the sense of personal control. Social Psychology Quarterly 61(2), 101–120.Google Scholar
Stern, PC (2000) New environmental theories: toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues 56(3), 407–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, PC, Dietz, T, Abel, TD, Guagnano, GA and Kalof, L (1999) A value-belief–norm theory of support for social movements: the case of environmentalism. Human Ecology Review 6(2), 81–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Straughan, RD and Roberts, JA (1999) Environmental segmentation alternatives: a look at green consumer behavior in the new millennium. Journal of Consumer Marketing 16(6), 558–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, Z, Chen, X and Luo, J (2011) Determining socio-psychological drivers for rural household recycling behavior in developing countries: a case study from Wugan, Hunan, China. Environment and Behavior 43(6), 848–877.Google Scholar
Thøgersen, J and Zhou, Y (2012) Chinese consumers’ adoption of a ‘green’ innovation– the case of organic food. Journal of Marketing Management 28(3–4), 313–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vermeir, I and Verbeke, W (2006) Sustainable food consumption: exploring the consumer ‘attitude-behavioral intention’ gap. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 19(2), 169–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vicente-Molina, MA, Fernández-Sáinz, A and Izagirre-Olaizola, J (2013) Environmental knowledge and other variables affecting pro-environmental behaviour: comparison of university students from emerging and advanced countries. Journal of Cleaner Production 61, 130–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Z, Zhang, B, Yin, J and Zhang, Y (2011) Determinants and policy implications for household electricity-saving behaviour: evidence from Beijing, China. Energy Policy 39(6), 3550–3557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
West, CG, Gildengorin, G, Haegerstrom-Portnoy, G, Lott, LA, Schneck, ME and Brabyn, JA (2003) Vision and driving self-restriction in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 51(10), 1348–1355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmarsh, L and O’Neill, S (2010) Green identity, green living? The role of pro-environmental self-identity in determining consistency across diverse pro-environmental behaviours. Journal of Environmental Psychology 30(3), 305–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Witte, K and Allen, M (2000) A meta-analysis of fear appeals: implications for effective public health campaigns. Health Education and Behavior 27(5), 591–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xiao, C and Hong, D (2010) Gender differences in environmental behaviors in China. Population and Environment 32(1), 88–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xiao, C and Hong, D (2012) Gender and concern for environmental issues in urban China. Society and Natural Resources 25(5), 468–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xue, W, Hine, DW, Marks, AD, Phillips, WJ, Nunn, P and Zhao, S (2016) Combining threat and efficacy messaging to increase public engagement with climate change in Beijing, China. Climatic Change 137(1–2), 43–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, HH and Brown, DF (2005) Understanding urban residential water use in Beijing and Tianjin, China. Habitat International 29(3), 469–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, HH, Gao, Q, Wu, YP, Wang, Y and Zhu, XD (2014) What affects green consumer behavior in China? A case study from Qingdao. Journal of Cleaner Production 63, 143–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, X, Li, N and Ma, C (2012) Residential energy consumption in urban China: a decomposition analysis. Energy Policy 41, 644–653.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Giefer et al. supplementary material

Appendix SA

Download Giefer et al. supplementary material(File)
File 14 KB