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.

This study examined the perception of barriers to pro-environmental behaviour for different population segments in British Columbia. Cultural cognition scales were used to assign cultural values to participants (i.e., hierarchy-egalitarianism scale and individualism-communitarianism scale). Psychological and socio-cultural barriers were assessed using the list of dragons of inaction. Data on cultural values, perception of climate change risk, perception of barriers, frequency of pro-environmental behaviour, climate change knowledge and socio-demographic variables were collected using online surveys. Egalitarian values were correlated with greater climate change risk perception and with weaker perception of barriers to pro-environmental behaviour. Greater climate change risk perception was also associated with more pro-environmental behaviour. The effect of cultural values on barrier perception was partly mediated by climate change risk perception. These findings suggest that future research should focus on lessening the discrepancy between scientific climate change risk perception and public climate change risk perception, which can, in turn, increase the frequency of pro-environmental behaviour. / Graduate / 0768 / 0451 / lacroixk@uvic.ca

Climate change is a serious global issue that poses one of the greatest challenges facing human kind (Kazdin, 2009; Stern, 2011; Swim et al., 2011). Given that organizations are often cited as the largest contributors to climate change (Trudeau and Canada West Foundation, 2007), research needs to investigate how organizations can positively affect climate change. Accordingly, the purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how organizations can positively affect climate change through workplace pro-environmental behaviors. To this end, three studies were conducted. The first study investigated the influence of leaders’ environmentally-specific transformational leadership and their own workplace pro-environmental behaviors on employees’ workplace pro-environmental behaviors. The second study examined if environmentally-specific and general transformational leadership are empirically distinct but related, whether environmentally-specific transformational leadership evokes higher levels of workplace pro-environmental behaviors than general transformational leadership, and if so, examined through mediation why this is the case. The third and final study conceptualizes and defines workplace pro-environmental behaviors as a form of organizational citizenship behaviors that are targeted at benefiting the natural environment (OCBE), and subsequently, developed and refined a measure of OCBE and assessed the measure’s psychometric validity. This dissertation concludes with a general discussion and highlights areas for future research. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2014-02-12 16:26:52.658

Background: Due to accelerating environmental problems caused by fast fashion sustainable business solutions become increasingly important. Thus, the following thesis examines generation y’s intention to perform in-store recycling at fast fashion retailers and investigates the factors most influential on intention. Besides, it analyses if an attitude-intention gap exists. To fulfil the study’s purpose, a combination of the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985) and the norm activation model (Schwartz, 1977) is used.   Approach: Within this study a quantitative method in terms of an online survey is applied. Based on a sample of 326 respondents, relationships between variables are analysed with Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression. To further identify differences among groups, Independent samples t-test and ANOVA are conducted.     Findings: The study’s findings reveal that generation y generally intends to participate in in-store recycling, while the intention is significantly higher among women than men. The intention to perform in-store recycling is predominantly intrinsically motivated as it is most driven by individuals’ personal norm.    Value: The findings of our study particularly add value for fast fashion retailers and marketers by presenting a novel research model combining most relevant factors required to adequately address consumers among generation y to perform in-store recycling. This specifically allows fashion retailers to successfully establish the concept of in-store recycling. Our study is further beneficial for sustainability researchers, environmental activists, charity organisations and policy makers to create a more sustainable future.

För att uppnå nationella och internationella klimatmål och minska den negativa mänskliga klimatpåverkan, samt för att undvika att jordens temperatur stiger ännu mer, behövs ett miljövänligare tankesätt kring hållbarhet och miljöutmaningar. Trots många miljösatsningar i samhället är det viktigt att framhäva och få en uppfattning om individens attityder och beteenden till miljömässig hållbarhet för att lättare påverka individer att agera klimatvänligt. Syftet med denna studie är att få en bild av högskolestudenters attityder och beteenden relaterat till olika miljörelevanta områden och aktiviteter som har en negativ miljöpåverkan, samt vilka bakomliggande faktorer som är av central betydelse för att förstå just dessa beteenden. Studien framhåller tidigare forskning om beteenden relaterat till miljö med koppling till studenter, jämförelsevis mellan kvinnor och män, i relation till media, sociodemografiska och socioekonomiska faktorer. Dessa faktorer belyses även i denna studie och relateras till just de intervjuade studenternas inställning, tankar och beteenden kring miljömässig hållbarhet. Studien utgår från hermeneutiken som tolkningsmetod och med kvalitativa intervjuer som metod för insamling av material. Sammanlagt har åtta personer intervjuats, varav fyra kvinnor och fyra män. Relevanta teorier som theory of planned behaviour, norm activation model och value belief norm theory med ursprung ur socialpsykologin används för analys av empirin. Empirin resulterade i åtta teman som belyser respondenternas olika attityder och beteenden och tankar kring miljömässig hållbarhet. Som tidigare forskning påvisat bekräftar även denna studie att attityder och beteenden inte alltid hänger ihop. Resultatet visar att attityder och beteenden påverkas på två olika sätt. Dels genom personers uppväxt och omgivning men också genom en påverkan från samhället från sociala medier, trender och förebilder. / In order to achieve national and international climate goals and reduce the negative human impact on the climate, as well as to avoid increasing the temperature of the Earth, more environmentally friendly thinking about sustainability and environmental challenges is needed. Despite many environmental initiatives in society, it is important to emphasize and get an idea of the individual's attitudes and behaviors towards environmental sustainability to more easily influence individuals to act climate friendly. The purpose of this study is to get a picture of university students' attitudes and behaviors related to different environmentally relevant areas and activities that have a negative environmental impact, as well as underlying factors that are crucial to understand these behaviors. The study highlights previous research on behavior related to environment and students, comparatively between women and men, in relation to the media and socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. It is these factors that also are highlighted in this study and are related to the attitudes, thoughts and behaviors of the interviewed students regarding environmental sustainability. The study is based on hermeneutics as an interpretation method and with qualitative interviews as a method of collecting material. A total of eight people have been interviewed, including four women and four men. Relevant theories such as the theory of planned behavior, norm activation model and value belief norm theory derived from social psychology are used to analyze the empiricism. The study resulted in eight themes highlighting respondents' different attitudes and behaviors and thoughts about environmental sustainability. As previous research has shown, this study also confirms that attitudes and behaviors do not always coincide. The result shows that attitudes and behaviors are influenced in two different ways. Partly through a person’s childhood and social surrounding, but also through an impact of society from social media, trends and role models.

A adoção de práticas sustentáveis desde à produção de alimentos até o consumo final tem sido mais frequente nos últimos anos. Essas práticas sustentáveis estão embasadas na promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável, sem prejudicar as gerações futuras da humanidade. Nesse contexto, os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares se deparam com diversos desafios quando se trata da diminuição de impactos ambientais e, em consequência, da promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável. A adoção de práticas sustentáveis é resultado da compreensão da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos, os quais desencadeiam as atitudes pró-ambientais e, assim, resulta em um comportamento ecológico. Neste sentido, objetivou-se analisar a influência da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos sobre as atitudes pró-ambientais dos proprietários das agroindústrias familiares vinculadas ao PEAF/RS. Os dados foram coletados por meio da aplicação de questionário, com quatro grupos de questões (perfil das agroindústrias familiares e atitudes pró-ambientais, Escala NEP, perfil socioeconômico, Escala Schwartz). A amostra corresponde aos 105 proprietários de agroindústrias familiares do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados foram analisados utilizando estatística descritiva, analise fatorial e correlação. Os resultados apresentam que mais da metade da amostra é composta por adultos, com grau de escolaridade elevado e com formação em cursos voltados para a gestão da agroindústria Além disso, 37% das agroindústrias familiares têm um tempo de existência entre um a cinco anos, com mão de obra familiar e com atividades predominantes em olericultura, bebidas e panificados, nas cidades de Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria e Lajeado. A aplicação das escalas, demonstrou que os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares possuem um nível elevado de consciência ambiental, com predominância nos valores humanos de ordem superior “conservação” e “autotranscendência”. Tais resultados revelam uma tendência de possuir um comportamento ecocêntrico e altruísta, conforme a Escala NEP e Schwartz, respectivamente. Além disso, observou-se que as agroindústrias familiares têm atitudes pró-ambientais, as quais são implantadas e praticadas pela agroindústria. De modo geral, 40% dos proprietários das agroindústrias acreditam que o empreendimento tem mais de 80% de atividades pró-ambientais, tais como, o uso de embalagens recicláveis, a prática de conscientização ambiental, a economia de energia, o uso correto do descarte dos resíduos sólidos. Porém não foi encontrado correlação entre as escalas e as atitudes pró-ambientais. Portanto, entende-se que esses resultados auxiliam as esferas federativas na formulação de uma política de benefícios, motivando-os aqueles que possuem mais adequação à preservação ambiental e incentivando outros proprietários a praticarem mais ações ambientais. / The adoption of sustainable practices from food production to final consumption has been more frequent in recent years. These sustainable practices are based on the promotion of sustainable development, without harming future generations of humanity. In this context, the owners of family agroindustries face several challenges when it comes to reducing environmental impacts and, as a consequence, promoting sustainable rural development. The adoption of sustainable practices is the result of an understanding of environmental awareness and human values, which triggers pro-environmental attitudes and thus results in ecological behavior. In this sense, the objective was to analyze the influence of environmental awareness and human values on the pro-environmental attitudes of the owners of family agroindustries linked to PEAF/RS. Data were collected through the application of a questionnaire, with four groups of questions (profile of family agroindustries and pro-environmental attitudes, NEP Scale, socioeconomic profile, Schwartz Scale). The sample corresponds to the 105 owners of family agroindustries in Rio Grande do Sul. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factorial analysis and correlation. The results show that more than half of the sample is composed of adults, with a high level of education and training in courses aimed at the management of agribusiness. In addition, 37% of family agroindustries have a life span of between one and five years, with family labor and predominant activities in olericultura, beverages and baked goods, in the cities of Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria and Lajeado The application of the scales, showed that the owners of the family agroindustries have a high level of environmental awareness, with a predominance of human values of higher order "conservation" and "self-transcendence". These results reveal a tendency to have an ecocentric and altruistic behavior, according to the NEP and Schwartz Scales, respectively. In addition, it was observed that family agroindustries have pro-environmental attitudes, which are implemented and practiced by the agroindustry. In general, 40% of the owners of agroindustries believe that the enterprise has more than 80% of pro-environmental activities, such as the use of recyclable packaging, the practice of environmental awareness, energy saving, the correct use of waste of solid waste. However, no correlation was found between the scales and the pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, it is understood that these results help federative spheres in the formulation of a benefits policy, motivating those that are more adequate to environmental preservation and encouraging other owners to practice more environmental actions.

A adoção de práticas sustentáveis desde à produção de alimentos até o consumo final tem sido mais frequente nos últimos anos. Essas práticas sustentáveis estão embasadas na promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável, sem prejudicar as gerações futuras da humanidade. Nesse contexto, os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares se deparam com diversos desafios quando se trata da diminuição de impactos ambientais e, em consequência, da promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável. A adoção de práticas sustentáveis é resultado da compreensão da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos, os quais desencadeiam as atitudes pró-ambientais e, assim, resulta em um comportamento ecológico. Neste sentido, objetivou-se analisar a influência da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos sobre as atitudes pró-ambientais dos proprietários das agroindústrias familiares vinculadas ao PEAF/RS. Os dados foram coletados por meio da aplicação de questionário, com quatro grupos de questões (perfil das agroindústrias familiares e atitudes pró-ambientais, Escala NEP, perfil socioeconômico, Escala Schwartz). A amostra corresponde aos 105 proprietários de agroindústrias familiares do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados foram analisados utilizando estatística descritiva, analise fatorial e correlação. Os resultados apresentam que mais da metade da amostra é composta por adultos, com grau de escolaridade elevado e com formação em cursos voltados para a gestão da agroindústria Além disso, 37% das agroindústrias familiares têm um tempo de existência entre um a cinco anos, com mão de obra familiar e com atividades predominantes em olericultura, bebidas e panificados, nas cidades de Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria e Lajeado. A aplicação das escalas, demonstrou que os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares possuem um nível elevado de consciência ambiental, com predominância nos valores humanos de ordem superior “conservação” e “autotranscendência”. Tais resultados revelam uma tendência de possuir um comportamento ecocêntrico e altruísta, conforme a Escala NEP e Schwartz, respectivamente. Além disso, observou-se que as agroindústrias familiares têm atitudes pró-ambientais, as quais são implantadas e praticadas pela agroindústria. De modo geral, 40% dos proprietários das agroindústrias acreditam que o empreendimento tem mais de 80% de atividades pró-ambientais, tais como, o uso de embalagens recicláveis, a prática de conscientização ambiental, a economia de energia, o uso correto do descarte dos resíduos sólidos. Porém não foi encontrado correlação entre as escalas e as atitudes pró-ambientais. Portanto, entende-se que esses resultados auxiliam as esferas federativas na formulação de uma política de benefícios, motivando-os aqueles que possuem mais adequação à preservação ambiental e incentivando outros proprietários a praticarem mais ações ambientais. / The adoption of sustainable practices from food production to final consumption has been more frequent in recent years. These sustainable practices are based on the promotion of sustainable development, without harming future generations of humanity. In this context, the owners of family agroindustries face several challenges when it comes to reducing environmental impacts and, as a consequence, promoting sustainable rural development. The adoption of sustainable practices is the result of an understanding of environmental awareness and human values, which triggers pro-environmental attitudes and thus results in ecological behavior. In this sense, the objective was to analyze the influence of environmental awareness and human values on the pro-environmental attitudes of the owners of family agroindustries linked to PEAF/RS. Data were collected through the application of a questionnaire, with four groups of questions (profile of family agroindustries and pro-environmental attitudes, NEP Scale, socioeconomic profile, Schwartz Scale). The sample corresponds to the 105 owners of family agroindustries in Rio Grande do Sul. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factorial analysis and correlation. The results show that more than half of the sample is composed of adults, with a high level of education and training in courses aimed at the management of agribusiness. In addition, 37% of family agroindustries have a life span of between one and five years, with family labor and predominant activities in olericultura, beverages and baked goods, in the cities of Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria and Lajeado The application of the scales, showed that the owners of the family agroindustries have a high level of environmental awareness, with a predominance of human values of higher order "conservation" and "self-transcendence". These results reveal a tendency to have an ecocentric and altruistic behavior, according to the NEP and Schwartz Scales, respectively. In addition, it was observed that family agroindustries have pro-environmental attitudes, which are implemented and practiced by the agroindustry. In general, 40% of the owners of agroindustries believe that the enterprise has more than 80% of pro-environmental activities, such as the use of recyclable packaging, the practice of environmental awareness, energy saving, the correct use of waste of solid waste. However, no correlation was found between the scales and the pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, it is understood that these results help federative spheres in the formulation of a benefits policy, motivating those that are more adequate to environmental preservation and encouraging other owners to practice more environmental actions.

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.

Mindfulness is defined as the ‘awareness that arises through paying attention to the present moment, on purpose, non-judgmentally’. Despite ample empirical evidence of its efficacy in inducing positive behavior change, almost no work has investigated the viability of using mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to promote pro-environmental behavior. Some recent studies have demonstrated consistent correlational relationships between mindfulness levels and pro-environmental attitudes (e.g., connectedness to nature), intentions, and some pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., recycling, “green” purchasing decisions), but no past work has explicitly examined mindfulness in the context of energy saving behaviors. Results from both quantitative and qualitative research conducted as part of this project add to existing evidence of a link between engagement in mindfulness practices and pro-environmental engagement, including, but not limited to, household energy use behaviors. Results from a couple of quantitative studies that were a part of this project show that dispositional facets Observe and Non-React were significant predictors of self-reported household energy behaviors, along with frequent engagement with mindfulness practices such as meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises. The results from the qualitative study present mindfulness to be a complex, multidimensional concept that is understood and experienced differently by different people. Unlike usually value-neutral academic and corporate conceptualizations, long-term practitioners who engage with the concept report their practice to have strong ethical dimensions. Engagement with mindfulness as a practice impacts practitioners' perceived connectedness to nature and supports their environmental behaviors. The study provides conceptual models that attempt to explain the relationship between mindfulness practice, connectedness to nature, and pro-environmental behaviors. Results from these studies suggest the possibility that mindfulness-based interventions could provide a novel approach to improving environmental behaviors though further research is needed to determine whether this is indeed the case. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

In previous years, the importance of sustainable consumption has been neglected, and as a result, so has the disposal process. This has lead to consumers being uneducated about environmental issues associated with waste problems. The textile industry greatly contributes to waste problems; however, very little information is available in South Africa concerning the waste management of the textile industry. Furthermore, very little research has been done in this country regarding consumer’s clothing disposal behaviour. South Africa is a country with various cultures, and research conducted in this country necessitates consideration of consumers’ values, beliefs and norms. This study acknowledges the lack of sustainable lifestyle literature in a country such as South Africa that has an emerging economy and diverse cultures, and therefore provides a framework that emphasises theories and models based on pro-­‐environmental behaviour. The framework for this study focuses on the concepts of the Value-­‐Belief-­‐Norm Theory and the New Ecological Paradigm Scale as influencing factors for clothing disposal behaviour. For this study the clothing disposal methods included re-­‐using, recycling, donation, reselling and discarding. © University of Pretoria v Furthermore, both the Value-­‐Belief-­‐Norm Theory and the New Ecological Paradigm Scale are new to the consumer behaviour research field in South Africa. The study was conducted in the City of Tshwane and a sample of 306 female consumers was included. Female consumers were selected as it has been found that females tend to be more environmentally concerned than men. Respondents were reached through non-­‐ probability, purposive and snowball sampling methods. A quantitative research approach that included a cross-­‐sectional survey design was used for descriptive and exploratory purposes. Respondents completed a questionnaire that was based on objectives compiled according to the research statement. Data was coded by the researcher herself, and was further descriptively and statistically analysed by statisticians of the University of Pretoria. The results for the study indicated that the majority of the consumers included in the study mainly indicated compassionate value orientations; however, they showed only moderate concern towards the environment. Nevertheless, results showed that the majority of the sample predominantly disposes of their clothing by means of pro-­‐environmental clothing disposal methods such as recycling, re-­‐using and donation. It was however found that different value orientations, beliefs and norms had varied influences on the clothing disposal behaviour. Ultimately, the findings indicated that it is relevant to explore consumer behaviour in a country with a growing economy and with various cultures, since values, beliefs and norms had a noteworthy influence on consumers’ clothing disposal behaviour. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Consumer Science / unrestricted