Values, Beliefs, Attitudes: An Empirical Study on the Structure of Environmental Concern and Recycling Participation

Abstract

Objectives. Empirical studies on environmental behavior have been using a multitude of different operationalizations of environmental concern, which complicates cumulative research. In this article, we empirically explore the dimensionality of four environmental scales of different specificity, their interrelatedness, and their partial contribution to the explanation of recycling behavior. To facilitate the comparison of different studies, we integrate the scales into a hierarchical model. Methods. In a German mail survey (n = 1,330), we queried participation in household waste recycling, Inglehart's postmaterialism scale, the new environmental paradigm scale, and a general and specific attitude scale. Using traditional path analysis and latent structural equation modeling, we test the hierarchical structure of environmental values, beliefs, and attitudes and their contribution to explaining recycling behavior. Results. We find direct effects of specific attitudes on behavior, but no direct effects of higher-level cognitions. Rather, values and primitive beliefs influence general attitudes, which in turn determine specific attitudes. The empirical analyses confirm the proposed hierarchical structure. Conclusions. Our research reaffirms Ajzen and Fishbein's postulate of correspondence. Comparison of different studies is only meaningful when the hierarchical position of the respective scales is taken into account properly. To facilitate cumulative research, we propose to use standardized general scales such as the NEP in addition to more specific operationalizations.

Environmental Literacy on Ecotourism: A Study on Student Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavioral Intentions in China and Taiwan

“…Hines et al performed a meta-analysis on environmental behavior where the results indicate that people who understand environmental concerns and know how to act in response to such concerns tend to exhibit the attitude required to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors [39,50]. Kaiser et al [46] reported that environmental knowledge and environmental values explained 40% of the variance of ecological behavioral intentions.…”

“…Kaiser et al [46] reported that environmental knowledge and environmental values explained 40% of the variance of ecological behavioral intentions. Bamberg [50] also suggested that situation-specific knowledge are direct determinants of specific behaviors. Based on these studies, the second hypothesis is proposed as follow: Hypothesis 2.…”

Agent-Based Model for End-of-Life Product Flow Analysis

“…There is a growing literature studying pro-environmental behaviors, such as recycling, using theoretical models [15,16], empirical data [17][18][19][20][21] or a combination of both [22][23][24][25][26][27]. Although there are several types of models, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) [28] seems to be the most frequently used here [29][30][31][32][33].…”

O Corpo E a Adoção De Práticas Sustentáveis: Estudo De Caso Em Uma Ecovila

“…O fato de que a atual crise ecológica exige mudanças não apenas políticas e econômicas, mas também culturais, tem levado muitos pesquisadores a investigar temas como: percepções sobre o ambiente (Gonçalves & Gomes, 2014;Peterlin, Kross, & Kontic, 2008;Ratter, Philipp, & Von Storch, 2012), níveis de preocupação ambiental (Alibeli & White, 2011;Dunlap, 1994;Feinberg & Willer, 2013) e influência dos valores e crenças na adoção de comportamentos mais sustentáveis (Best & Mayerl, 2013;De Groot & Steg, 2010;Harder et al, 2014). No entanto, muitos pesquisadores têm percebido que valores ecológicos, consciência ambiental e percepções favoráveis não se traduzem diretamente em comportamento ambientalmente responsável (Ester, Vinken, & Simões, 2004;Rodríguez-Barreiro et al, 2013;Tanner, 1999).…”