Coaching for a Sustainability Transition: Empowering Student-Led Sustainability Initiatives by Developing Skills, Group Identification, and Efficacy Beliefs

Abstract

Self-, collective, and participative efficacy are strong predictors of sustainability action. Yet, few studies have investigated the dynamics and variability of efficacy beliefs. In this transdisciplinary study, we tested such factors in the context of a peer-to-peer coaching program for sustainability volunteers, embedded in a structured-educational context. Over weekends, 2 qualified coaches trained 36 German bottom-up, student-led sustainability initiatives. These coaches instructed students in team building, envisioning, project planning, and on-campus sustainability practice. While 317 participants completed our pre-questionnaire, N = 165 completed both the pre- and post-questionnaire. As hypothesized, after having participated in the coaching weekend, action skills, collaboration skills, group identification, and self-, collective, and participative efficacy all increased. The latter of these increased, to our knowledge, for the first time in environmental psychology research. Group identification and having a vision emerged as important efficacy predictors, and participative efficacy beliefs in turn predicted volunteering. Moreover, we took initial steps in investigating the interaction of psychological and structural factors from a multilevel perspective. Our analyses revealed that efficacy beliefs on the individual level were higher when the university had a green office and when the student initiative was at a small university. We conclude by proposing an empowerment model for sustainability volunteers and by discussing the practical implications of our findings.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic strengthened confidence in managing the climate crisis? Transfer of efficacy beliefs after experiencing lockdowns in Switzerland and Austria

“…Efficacy beliefs were assessed as two distinct factors, referring to agency as an individual ( self-efficacy , two items; e.g., “I am confident that I can do something for climate protection on my own”), and as a member of a group ( participatory efficacy , two items; e.g., “I am capable of making a small but important contribution to improving climate protection together with others”). Item wordings were informed by previous studies (Bamberg et al, 2015 ; Lauren et al, 2016 ; Hamann et al, 2021 ). The wording was adjusted to create parallel versions of these items referring to either climate protection or tackling the COVID-19 crisis.…”

“…For detailed wording (translated from German), descriptive statistics, and scale reliabilities of all items please refer to Supplementary Table S6 . Efficacy beliefs were assessed as three distinct factors, referring to the agency as an individual ( self-efficacy , three items, two of which were phrased identically as in Study 1), as a member of a group ( participatory efficacy , three items, two of which were phrased as in Study 1) and as a whole group ( collective efficacy , three items; e.g., “Through collective efforts of myself and other people, we can achieve progress in climate protection”; van Zomeren et al, 2013 ; Bamberg et al, 2015 ; Lauren et al, 2016 ; Hamann et al, 2021 ). Emotions associated with efficacy were measured as positive efficacy affect (feeling hopeful or motivated, two items; Hamann and Reese, 2020 ) and as negative efficacy affect (feeling helpless or frustrated, two items; Geiger et al, 2021c ).…”

“…Even free-riders may hold strong collective efficacy beliefs, however, and may presume that others will reach for the common goals without themselves taking an active part (Hamann et al, 2021 ). Participatory efficacy , therefore, encompasses the belief that one's own contribution makes a significant difference to reaching the collective goals (van Zomeren et al, 2013 ).…”

“…Conversely, negative affect, such as frustration or helplessness, signals futility and lack of confidence in attaining a desired outcome. Emotional states are a source of self-efficacy and other efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 1977 ; Hamann et al, 2021 ); for instance, being positively moved is related to collective efficacy (Landmann and Rohmann, 2020 ). Positive affect predicts pro-environmental behavior (Hamann and Reese, 2020 ; Hamann et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Emotional states are a source of self-efficacy and other efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 1977 ; Hamann et al, 2021 ); for instance, being positively moved is related to collective efficacy (Landmann and Rohmann, 2020 ). Positive affect predicts pro-environmental behavior (Hamann and Reese, 2020 ; Hamann et al, 2021 ). Hostile emotions, such as anger and outrage, instigate collective action when protesting against personal deprivation and injustice (Bamberg et al, 2015 ); by contrast, pro-environmental activists, who are rarely disadvantaged in their personal livelihood by the topics they act on, are motivated by feelings of hope or of being moved (Landmann and Rohmann, 2020 ; Geiger et al, 2021c ).…”