The most devastating effects of climate change may be avoided if humans reduce activities that produce greenhouse gases and engage instead in more sustainable ecological behaviors. The current mixed methods study of 279 undergraduate students explored whether environmental worldview, belief in climate change, knowledge of climate change, personal efficacy, and intention to address climate change influenced participants’ engagement in ecological behavior. Results indicated that those with a stronger intention to address climate change and a more ecocentric worldview reported significantly more ecological behavior. Next, the study examined whether participants’ intentions to address climate change mediated the relationship between their belief in climate change and engagement in ecological behavior and whether intentions mediated the relationship between efficacy and ecological behavior. Intentions to address climate change did not mediate the relationship between belief and ecological behavior but fully mediated the relationship between efficacy to address climate change and ecological behavior.

Environmental protection has become a global issue and attracted the attention of both the general public and governments around the world. Understanding people’s environmental attitude and their behavioral intention, measured as their willingness to pay cost for the environment, is therefore imperative. Research in this field is abundant, but it suffers from at least two limitations. First, previous literature focused mainly on predictors of human behaviors at the individual level and seldom examined the effect of cultural values. In addition, few studies have expanded their research scope beyond Western countries. This study addresses these gaps by investigating the factors, both at the national and individual level, shaping people’s intention to take actions in 26 countries. Employing Ajzen and Fishbein’s theory of planned behavior, the analysis at the individual level examines the impact of environmental attitude, self-efficacy, and subjective norms. At the same time, this study also looks into the effect of three cultural orientations developed by Hofstede, including Individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance. The data used in this study were Hofstede’s cultural indices and World Value Survey (WVS) with a total number of 38,511 participants in 26 countries. Hierarchical linear modeling is applied. The result showed that Ajzen and Fishbein’s theory of planned behavior fit well in the study. Three behavioral determinants (attitude, subjective norm, self efficacy) in the theory were positively related to environmental behavioral intentions. Aggregate cultural orientations also accounted for part of variations in relation to environmental behavioral intentions. In more individualistic countries, people were less likely to perform financial sacrifice behaviors for the environment than those in the less individualistic countries. Finally, this study suggested cultural orientations served as moderating variables on people’s environmental attitudes and subjective norms. Environmental attitudes exerted greater impacts on behavioral intentions in more individualistic countries, where the effects of subjective norms were weaker.

Luckan mellan människors attityd och beteende när det gäller miljö är ett problem och för att nå hållbar utveckling måste människors beteenden förändras. Denna uppsats ämnar undersöka huruvida en kombination av faktorer och metoder framgångsrikt kan användas för att adressera komplexiteten i mänskligt beteende och koppla dem till ett antal beteendepåverkande metoder och modeller. Beteendebaserad säkerhet (BBS) är en arbetsmiljömetod som bygger på beteendevetenskapens ABC-modell (signal-beteende-konsekvens) och syftar till att först ändra beteendet vilket sedan ger en attitydförändring. En tes i denna studie är att faktorer från BBS kan appliceras på miljöbeteende, något som inte tidigare har undersökts.  Faktorer från beteendevetenskap, BBS, nudging och Hawthorneeffekten slogs samman i en insats i syfte att förbättra källsorteringsbeteendet på Sydkraft Hydropower AB i Sundsvall. Studien utfördes under totalt fem veckor och mätte effekten av insatsen genom vägning, plockanalys, enkät och LCA. Resultatet visar en liten effekt genom en minskning av felsorterade artiklar, effekten var dock inte kvarstående vilket gör vidare och längre studier nödvändiga för att undersöka beteendeförändring över tid. I studien genomfördes också en livscykelanalys på kaffemuggar och resultatet visade att porslinsmuggen har lägre miljöbelastning än pappersmuggen efter 399 respektive 54 användningar, beroende på vald analysmetod. / The environmental attitude-behavior gap of people is problematic and to reach sustainable development people´s behavior has to change. This paper discusses a number of behavioral methods and looks into whether a combination of methods and factors can successfully be applicable to address the complexity of human behavior. Behavior-based safety (BBS) is a method that builds upon the ABC-model of behavioral science and seeks to change the behavior first which then leads to attitude changes. A thesis in this study is that factors från BBS can be applicable to environmental behavior, a theory not previously examined. Factors from behavioral science, BBS, nudging and the Hawthorne effect were merged in an intervention in order to improve the recycling behavior at Sydkraft Hydropower AB in Sundsvall. The study was conducted over a five week period and the result showed a small effect on the fault sorting of waste. The effect did not remain after intervention ended which makes further and longer studies necessary to examine behavioral change over time.  An LCA on coffee mugs was also conducted and the result showed that the porcelain mug is more environmentally friendly than the paper mug after 399 and 54 uses respectively, depending on the chosen method.

As consumers seek social status through displays of mindful consumption, it becomes common to observe a new type of environmentally responsible but conspicuous behavior called conspicuous conservation. Intentionally engaging in environmental activities to show off your `greenness' or over-spending on green products to display your ability to support environmental causes is an example of conspicuous conservation. Given the recent consumer trend involved in green consumption, the study begins with the question of whether consumers' value orientations explain their environmentally conscious behaviors, including their responses to environmental claims in advertising and intentions to purchase a green product. Based on theoretical premises, the study hypothesizes that consumers driven by self-enhancement (proself) values are more likely to respond to a green product whose consumption is primarily seen in public, promoting strong public self-awareness, rather than a product whose consumption is mainly in private and proself-oriented consumers are more likely to respond to green claims that bring immediate benefits than distant and uncertain benefits to the environment. The results of the online experiment confirm that there is a main effect of social value orientations on consumers' environmentally conscious behavior, including attitudinal and behavioral responses regarding green advertising and green products. Specifically, public self-awareness is a significant moderator, indicating proself-oriented consumers generally show less favorable attitude and behavioral responses with regard to green advertising and green purchase than prosocial-oriented consumers; however, when an advertised product and its consumption is mainly seen in public, promoting strong public self-awareness, proself-oriented consumers change their attitudes and behavioral responses in a positive direction. The study has several contributions to the current stream of environmental advertising research and practice. First, the study establishes the relationship between social value orientations and green advertising effectiveness. Second, the study identifies that conspicuous conservation can be explained with social value orientations and public self-awareness. Last, the finding of the study suggests that social value orientations help marketers understand the consumers' underlying motivations and to know whether greenness is an appropriate selling attribute. Further, the marketers can understand how the consumers' value orientations could be incorporated into the brand communications.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-06-20T13:52:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Geraldo Luiz Filho.pdf: 1412544 bytes, checksum: c51ae0533c317b450405046a5b2c324f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-20T13:52:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Geraldo Luiz Filho.pdf: 1412544 bytes, checksum: c51ae0533c317b450405046a5b2c324f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-06 / Companies that are social responsible tend to be more recognized in the market. However, for this practice to happen, graduates need to be prepared to work within these expectations. In this sense and to understand if there are environmental performances in the Brazilian federal universities and their business students, this study was aimed to verify this relationship, using a scale translated and validated for the Brazilian context, based on belief, attitude, concern and consumption. The methodological approach is quantitative, allowing to analyze the environmental performance and which aspects have environmental practices. The survey data was performed using a questionnaire administered in 60 campuses of federal universities where, effectively, 35 of them participated, with a total of 1,146 respondents. Data were analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with partial least squares and paths models (PLS-PM) using the SmartPLS 2.0 software - M3, the results indicate that the development of environmental issues are not favorable in the academic world. / Empresas que demonstram ter responsabilidade social tendem a ser mais reconhecidas no mercado. Contudo, para que esta prática aconteça, os gestores sendo formados pelas universidades precisam se preparar para atuar dentro destas expectativas. Neste sentido e para entender se o comportamento ambiental dos estudantes de administração das universidades federais brasileiras exibem práticas ambientais, o presente estudo teve por objetivo verificar esta relação, utilizando-se uma escala traduzida e validada para o contexto brasileiro, baseada em crença, atitude, preocupação e consumo. A abordagem metodológica é de natureza quantitativa, o que possibilitou analisar o comportamento ambiental e quais aspectos apresentam práticas ambientais. O levantamento dos dados foi realizado utilizando-se um questionário aplicado em 60 campi de universidades federais onde, efetivamente, 35 deles participaram, com um total de 1.146 respondentes. Os dados foram analisados através da Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (SEM), com mínimos quadrados parciais e modelos de caminhos (PLS-PM) utilizando-se o software SmartPLS 2.0 – M3, cujos resultados indicam que o desenvolvimento das questões ambientais não são favoráveis no universo acadêmico.

Klimatförändringarna är ett av de största hoten mot mänskligheten, och konsekvenserna avklimatförändringarna kommer öka både i omfattning och allvar i takt med att den globalauppvärmningen intensifieras. Detta leder till överhängande risker mot många områden i samhället. För att den globala uppvärmningen ska hållas under 2 °C måste omfattande åtgärder tas till inom en snar framtid. I detta har individer en viktig roll. Hur individer upplever risker är viktigt för att förstå deras reaktioner gentemot dem klimatförändringarna. En majoritet av det svenska folket betvivlar inte längre att klimatförändringarna sker. Däremot finns det fortfarande mycket som måste göras på individnivå, eftersom hushåll i Sverige står för 60 % av nationens totala utsläpp av växthusgaser. Samtidigt argumenteras det för att det finns en ökad press från samhället, både när det kommer till aktivism och engagemang i klimatfrågan. Baserat på brådskan i att mildra klimatförändringarna är målet med den här studien att få en bättre förståelse för hur individer med ett redan uttalat intresse eller engagemang om klimatförändringarna upplever dessa och risker kopplade till dem samt hur deras väg mot ett engagemang har sett ut. Vidare ämnar den även undersöka hur deras syn, enligt desjälva har utvecklats samt hur denna synen tar sig uttryck kognitivt, emotionellt ochbeteendemässigt med hjälp av en narrativ livshistoriemetod. Hoppet är att få en ökad förståelse för de faktorer som har varit viktiga i detta engagemang eftersom det kan skapa inblick i de viktiga komponenter som krävs för att främja medvetenhet om klimatförändringar och engagemang. Resultaten visar att klimatförändringarna uppfattas som en moralisk oro som är starkt sammankopplad med rättvisefrågor. Kritiska händelser har lett till ett ökat medvetande om problemet. När konsekvenserna om klimatförändringarna omfamnats har hoten som uppvisas gentemot objects of care och ens kärnvärderingar triggat känslor, ökat ens risk perception och aktiverat personliga normer som lett till känslor av personligt ansvar. Så småningom har dessa faktorer, tillsammans med andra lett till olika typer av engagemang, vilket många gånger har varit en gradvis process. / Climate change is one of the biggest threats towards humanity, and the consequences of climate change will increase in magnitude and severity as global warming intensifies. This leads to imminent risks to many areas of society. To keep global warming below 2 °C, major mitigation measures will need to occur in the near future. In this, individuals have an important role. How individuals perceive risk are of importance in order to understand their reactions to them. A majority of Swedish people no longer doubt that climate change is occurring. However, there is still a lot to be done on the individual level, as the households in Sweden stands for 60 % of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it is argued that there is an increased pressure from civil society, both when it comes to public activism and engagement in climate change. Based on the urgency in mitigating climate change, the aim of this study is to better understand how individuals with an interest or engagement in climate change perceives climate change and its associated risks and what their road to engagement has looked like. Furthermore, the aim is to better understand how their view, according to them, has evolved and how this view is expressed cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally with the help of a narrative life-history method. The hope is to gain an understanding of the factors that have been key in their engagement with climate change, as this can bring insight to important components in fostering climate change awareness and engagement in the issue. Results demonstrate that climate change is perceived as amoral concern, linked to issues of justice. Critical events have led to an increased awareness of these issues. When consequences of climate change are grasped, the threats they pose to valued objects of care and core values triggers emotional responses, raised risk perception and activates personal norms leading to feelings of personal responsibility. Eventually these factors, along with others, have led to different engagements in climate change, which many times have been a gradual process.

Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, die Frage nach der Relation zwischen Umwelteinstellungen und umweltgerechtem Verhalten zu beantworten. Hierzu wird ein deduktiver, theoretischer Zugang gewählt. Es werden unterschiedliche theoretische Perspektiven, die sich in der Umweltforschung etabliert haben, vergleichend betrachtet und analysiert: die Umweltbewusstseinsforschung, die Risikoforschung, die Werteforschung und der Rational-Choice-Ansatz, wobei die beiden letztgenannten Theorieansätze in je zwei unterschiedlichen Varianten berücksichtigt werden. Die einzelnen Erklärungsansätze stehen bisher weitgehend isoliert nebeneinander, es fehlt eine explizite systematische theorievergleichende Perspektive, die versucht, den Bewährungsgrad und die Leistungsfähigkeit der dominierenden Ansätze des Forschungsfeldes empirisch zu untersuchen und zu vergleichen. Ein solcher Vergleich wird in der vorliegenden Untersuchung durchgeführt. In der vorliegenden Studie wird neben dieser theorievergleichenden Strategie zusätzlich auch eine kulturvergleichende Strategie verfolgt. Zum einen weil die Umweltproblematik in Zeiten der Globalisierung ein internationales Problem ist. Zum anderen ist die Validierung der verschiedenen Theorien in verschiedenen kulturellen Settings ein wichtiger Weg der Theorieprüfung.:Vorwort 4 1. Einleitung 5 2. Sozialwissenschaftliche Umweltforschung 10 2.1 Umweltbewusstsein – empirische Ergebnisse 13 2.2. Umweltbewusstseinsforschung – im engeren Sinne 16 2.2.1 Was ist Umweltbewusstsein? 16 2.2.2 Sozialstruktur und Umweltbewusstsein 20 2.2.3 Umweltbewusstsein und Verhalten 22 2.3. Risikoforschung 23 2.3.1 Psychologische Risikoforschung 24 2.3.2 Sozialkonstruktivistische Risikoforschung 25 2.4 Werteforschung und Umweltprobleme 29 2.4.1 Der Materialismus/Postmaterialismus-Ansatz 30 2.4.2 Der Norm-Activation-Ansatz 34 2.5 Kosten-Nutzen-Ansätze in der Umweltforschung 36 2.5.1 Die High-Cost/Low-Cost-These 37 2.5.2 Framing-Modelle 40 3. Theorien zum Umweltbewusstsein und –verhalten im Vergleich 45 3.1 Einführende Bemerkungen zur Methodologie des Theorienvergleichs 46 3.1.1 Logischer Vergleich und Ansätze einer Theorieintegration 50 3.2 Einführende Bemerkungen zur Methodologie des Kulturvergleichs 57 4. Fragestellungen und Hypothesen 61 4.1 Hypothesen auf der Strukturebene 62 4.2 Hypothesen aus kulturvergleichender Perspektive 71 4.2.1 Die ausgewählten Länder 72 4.2.2 Unterschiedshypothesen auf Struktur- und Niveauebene 79 4.4 Unterschiede zu vergleichbaren Studien – Desiderate 84 5. Methodisches Vorgehen 87 5.1 Analysestrategien 87 5.2 Stichproben 91 5.2.1 Die Auswahl der Länder 93 5.2.2 Auswahl der Individuen 98 5.3 Messinstrumente - Messmodelle im Kulturvergleich 99 5.3.1 Die Frage der Vergleichbarkeit 99 5.3.2 Meßmodelle und Äquivalenz 100 5.3.2.1 Umweltbezogene Werthaltung und Einstellungen 103 5.3.2.2 Berichtetes tatsächliches Verhalten 113 5.3.2.3 Sozialstrukturelle Variablen 115 5.3.3 Messmodelle: umweltbezogene Einstellungen 116 5.3.4 Messmodell: Umweltverhalten 123 6. Ergebnisse 125 6.1 Ländervergleich oder Kulturvergleich? 126 6.2 Kulturvergleich: Unterschiede auf der Niveauebene 129 6.2.1 Umweltbezogene Werthaltungen und Einstellungen im ISSP 130 6.2.2 Konsumverhalten - Protestverhalten 141 6.2.3 Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse auf der Niveauebene 143 6.3 Ergebnisse auf der Strukturebene 145 6.3.1 Das Gesamtmodell – alle sechs Länder im Vergleich 146 6.3.2 Das Kernmodell – ein multipler Gruppenvergleich 155 6.3.3 Konsumverhalten versus Protestverhalten 160 6.3.4 Die High-Cost/Low-Cost These 163 6.3.5 Die Framing-These 171 6.3.6 Der Norm-Activation Ansatz 174 6.4 Eine Bilanz: Umweltbewusstsein – Umweltverhalten 176 7. Ergebnisse im Zeitvergleich 1993 und 2000 180 7.1 Veränderungen auf der Einstellungsebene 181 7.2 Veränderungen auf der Verhaltensebene 183 7.3 Veränderungen auf der Strukturebene 184 8. Fazit 188 Anhang 197 Tabellen- und Abbildungsverzeichnis 201 Literatur 206

This study presented meat consumption as an environmentally relevant behavior (ERB) and examined how the delay to an environmental loss might affect peoples’ decisions to eat meat. Participants completed a delay discounting survey where they selected what percentage of meat they would eliminate from their diet based on varying delays to rising sea levels flooding of their neighborhood. After watching a brief educational video, participants completed the survey a second time to examine whether the video had any influence on discounting rates in the post-survey. Participants also completed the 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ; Kirby & Marakovic, 1996) in order to compare individuals’ monetary discounting rates to their environmental discounting rates. Data were analyzed using calculations of area under the curve (AUC) and Mazur’s (1987) hyperbolic discounting equation. Results showed that the average percentage of meat that people chose to eliminate from their diets decreased as a function of the delay to the environmental loss, the educational video was effective in reducing environmental discounting rates, and discounting rates for monetary outcomes were positively and significantly correlated with discounting rates for environmental outcomes. Implications, limitations, and avenues for future research are discussed.

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