High-Status Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Costly, Effortful, and Visible

Abstract

Diffusion of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) is known to be influenced by the perceived social status of those behaviors, but little is known about what gives PEBs social status. A sample of Australian residents ( N = 601) were asked to rate the social status of 16 PEBs and report their self and public environmental identities. Environmental identities accounted for 18% to 19% of the variance in social status ratings. Efficiency behaviors were perceived as conveying the greatest social status, and activism behaviors the least. Visibility, cost, and effort also predicted perceived social status. Short-answer responses indicated the social status ratings of PEBs were also dependent on the perceived environmental motivations for performing those behaviors. Understanding which PEBs are seen as high status provides insight into PEBs that may be easiest to promote and sheds light on the broader social structures that influence social status perceptions.

Energy-related behaviour and rebound when rationality, self-interest and willpower are limited

“…Peer influence can take various forms: people comply with the norms to avoid social sanctions; they imitate others to fit in a group, or as a social heuristic when there is uncertainty about what is the right behaviour; and they signal socially desirable personal traits through conspicuous consumption, in order to gain social status that comes with preferential treatment in social interactions 76 . In the domain of energy conservation, the effects of peer influence tend to be larger the more costly or effortful is a given behaviour, notably in the public (vs private) domain, where behaviours are more observable 77,78 . As such, the strength of peer effects is expected to be higher for energy-efficiency than curtailment behaviours.…”

“…As such, the strength of peer effects is expected to be higher for energy-efficiency than curtailment behaviours. And within efficiency behaviours, installing solar panels is more relevant for social status than indoor house insulation, since the latter is not easily observable by third parties 78 .…”

Exploring the Differential Effect of Life Satisfaction on Low and High-Cost Pro-Environmental Behaviors

“…Unlike other European countries, such as Finland or Demark, market-based policies aimed at increasing recycling rates, such as deposit–refund programs, have not yet been implemented in Spain. Other PEBs are highly constrained by income since they are costly to perform although they confer higher social status [ 59 ], e.g., reinsulating homes and buying a hybrid or electric car. Interestingly, having a sibling that currently is in college or that has completed their degree increases the probability of engaging in recycling activities, being this positive relationship is statistically significant at the 1% level for the three recycling activities.…”

The Functionality of Dissimilarity: Pro-Environmental Behavior through Heterogenous Networks

“…Conspicuous consumption is visual, while inconspicuous consumption is private and not as "spectacular" (Evans 2018, p. 504). Furthermore, conspicuous pro-environmental behavior, such as consumerism (e.g., buying solar panels), tends to be related more to lifestyle and status, compared to curtailment behaviors, such as conserving energy (e.g., turning off the lights) (Choi and Seo 2017;Griskevicius et al 2010;Uren et al 2019). Considering the emerging importance of social status as an aspect of pro-environmental behavior (Brooks and Wilson 2015;De Nardo et al 2017), conformity mechanisms may be at play when explaining the residual relationship between network heterophily and pro-environmental shopping decisions (Axsen and Kurani 2012).…”