When do recycling attitudes predict recycling? An investigation of self-reported versus observed behavior

Socio-Spatial Factors Affecting Household Recycling in Townhouses in Pretoria, South Africa

“…Consequently, only about 31% of respondents reported that their households had recycled paper, glass, metal, or plastic in the past three months-a rate that is equal to the national average for the UK [14], and marginally higher than the rate in multi-residential buildings in Ontario (Canada) [13]. However, considering social desirability bias and the tendency for self-reported recycling to be overstated, the actual rate of recycling in Equestria is likely to be lower [1,13,14,37,38].…”

Predicting Recycling Behavior by Including Moral Norms into the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…Secondly, the fact that respondents filled in the measures of recycling attitudes in a socially desirable way may be considered as a limiting factor. Other researchers have noted that recycling attitudes often differ from actual recycling behaviors (Huffman et al, 2014;Thøgersen, 2014); and it is difficult to solve this divide by using self-report measures; ho wever, further research could be carried out using more discrete In summary, it can be concluded that on its own the theory of planned behavior is a strong and time-tested model of predicting behavior (Ajzen, 2011), but it neglects the moral component wich, as evident by the present study, can be a strong predictor of behavior as well. It would be not only reasonable, but also wise to include moral norms in the theory of planned behavior as a predictor of behavioral intention and perhaps behavior as well (at least in the case of recycling).…”

“…Some researchers strive to understand what drives sustainable behavior as a whole (Ballantyne & Packer, 2005, 2011Iveroth & Bengtsson, 2014;Peters, Sinclair, & Fudge, 2012;Sahin, Ertepinar, & Teksoz, 2012), while others focus on specific behaviors that might contribute to saving or preserving the natural environment (Young, Hwang, McDonald, & Oates, 2010;Jakovcevic & Steg, 2013;Liu, Wang, Shishime, & Fujitsuka, 2012;Spence, Leygue, Bedwell, & O'Malley, 2014). One common behavior that contributes to sustainability is recycling (Chan & Bishop, 2013;Huffman, Van Der Werff, Henning, & Watrous-Rodriguez, 2014;Tonglet, Phillips, & Read, 2004;Wan, Shen, & Yu, 2014). Most people have the means to recycle trash, therefore, understanding what motivates this behavior may bring us closer to the ways of effectively encouraging it.…”

Heritage tourism, CSR and the role of employee environmental behaviour

“…This measurement of behaviour improves the reliability of the study, given that discordance between self-reported and actual measures is noted in past environmental research (Chao & Lam, 2011;Huffman, Van Der Werff, Henning & Watrous-Rodriguez, 2014). This also helps to reduce the issue of common method variance (CMV), which is highlighted as an issue in cross-sectional survey research (Rindfleisch, Malter, Ganesan, & Moorman, 2008).…”