Tackling climate change and other associated environmental problems has become a significant global issue. In order to tackle these challenges governments have introduced policy frameworks, legislation and laws to help mitigate their effects. The Scottish Government have invested in numerous programmes and initiatives to create and enhance a low carbon rural economy, and in order to do so successfully understanding behaviour is a vital component in achieving the aims of such policies and legislation. Rural businesses can play an important role in encouraging the uptake of pro-environmental behaviour and energy saving practices. However individuals within rural SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises) often encounter barriers which may prevent reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental objectives from being achieved. Therefore it is important to understand the influences associated with pro-environmental behaviour within the workplace, specific to the rural economy. This thesis aims to investigate the role of the physical, social and individual context in influencing individuals’ workplace pro-environmental behaviour. The thesis also aims to research the barriers, facilitators and motivations individuals experience during decision-making and action taken relating to issues such as recycling, waste management, energy efficiency, transport and procurement. Different employee levels within a variety of rural tourism businesses have been studied (e.g. employees, management, and business owners) utilising a mixed methodology consisting of focus groups and a questionnaire survey in order to enhance and validate the research. By doing so this study has managed to increase understanding of the views of employees, managers and business owners, who are crucial to the uptake of pro-environmental behaviour within the rural economy. A range of antecedents were identified from existing literature as having potential effects on pro-environmental behaviour, therefore a variety of these were thoroughly investigated. The results of the studies carried out herein show the importance of understanding workplace pro-environmental behaviour from the perspective of different contexts (physical, social and individual). With respect to the physical context, antecedents influencing individuals’ workplace pro-environmental behaviours include building infrastructure, business size and building location. Individuals expressed their businesses inability to be energy efficient due to poor building infrastructure, e.g. operating from an old rural building with inefficient roof and wall insulation, to no double glazing due to being in a listed building, thus letting heat escape. Furthermore, individuals discussed renting premises for their business, therefore have no control over structural decisions which affect energy efficiency. Business size was also mentioned as an important influence of behaviour in relation to the physical context, e.g. smaller businesses produce less turnover, and therefore are not in a financial position to upgrade heating systems, or utilise clean efficient technologies and materials which are perceived to be more expensive. With regard to business location, a high proportion of participants highlighted this as a barrier to undertaking pro-environmental behaviour, e.g. lack of public transport, recycling facilities and pick-ups for particular business materials, as well as not being able to procure goods for the workplace locally due to lack of availability. In terms of the social context, antecedents influencing individuals’ workplace pro-environmental behaviour included social norms. Individuals cite being influenced by professional relationships, e.g. neighbouring businesses, colleagues, customers and higher management (industry compliance), in addition to personal social relationships e.g. friends and family. Many business owners stated feeling responsible to behave pro-environmentally and were motivated to try and set a good example to other members of their workforce in order to increase participation and awareness. The study also highlighted the importance to strengthen an individual’s identification with their workplace, as results illustrated the more an individual strongly identified with their work, the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Lastly with respect to the individual context, this refers to one’s personal circumstances, outlooks and attitudes specific to them as an individual. The thesis provides support that environmental identity and level of environmental activity (contingent to the workplace) were both influences of workplace pro-environmental behaviour. The study’s findings highlighted the more an individual strongly identified with the environment, the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviour at work. With respect to the level of environmental activity as an influence of workplace behaviour, results provided evidence that the more an individual was active (e.g. in green marketing, joining green schemes, holding/attending environmental meetings etc.), the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviour at work, thus illustrating the value of these practices. In conclusion, results from this research demonstrate the relationship between the physical, social and individual context when investigating the influences of workplace pro-environmental behaviour, and furthermore identify individuals’ personal motivations, barriers and facilitators. By doing so the thesis has been able to highlight what actions and procedures could potentially be implemented to increase sustainable tourism business practices in the transition to a low carbon rural economy. It is important to recognise individuals will perceive different barriers and retain motivations personal to them, therefore when business owners apply new environmental initiatives and goals, employees’ individual needs must be acknowledged to facilitate greater engagement. Workplace pro-environmental behaviour is complex and fairly under researched in comparison to investigating home-based pro-environmental behaviours. Therefore this study has added to the body of literature by highlighting the importance of different contexts (physical, social and individual) and has increased the understanding of what influences workplace pro-environmental behaviour specific to the rural tourism industry, which is vital to Scotland’s economy.

With the aim to reduce the effects of anthropocentric climate change and achieve a more sustainable future, promotion of sustainable individual behaviour is just as essential as driving political and economic change. As social media are experiencing growth in popularity, online communities in which influencers act as opinion leaders are a promising tool to influence behaviour. The objective of this paper was to examine the role of individuals’ pre-existing value structures and the effectiveness of encouraging pro-environmental behaviour amongst the millennial generation on Instagram. The study design is based on the extended version of goal-frame theory, The Integrated Framework for Encouraging Pro-environmental Behaviour.An experiment survey has been developed to measure current pro-environmental behaviour, value structure and goal-frame, test preferred Instagram posts, and measure intentions to act pro-environmentally in the future. Survey respondents were randomly assigned to a control group, which was not shown any Instagram posts. The experiment tested whether the provision of Instagram posts, which are framed in line with one’s goal-frame, creates a more effective message subsequently leading to an increase in future intentions to act pro-environmentally. The results of the analyses indicated that framing of an Instagram post based on pre-existing goal-frames does create a more effective message but does not lead to an increase in future intentions to act pro-environmentally. The differences in intentions to start acting pro-environmentally were not significantly different between the experiment and control group.Further analysis revealed that the strongest predictor to increase intentions to act in line with the environment is a combination of high accessibility to a normative goal-frame (biospheric and altruistic values), low accessibility to a gain goal-frame (egoistic values) and university education. Additionally, it was detected that females are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviour, to have higher intentions to adjust their lifestyle as well as accessibility to a normative goal-frame. Implications of this study can be applied to future research as well as help organizations and governments to develop more targeted sustainable consumption campaign and policies.

Since the end of apartheid South Africa has been rebuilding the country with the aim to create a society based on equality. In the rebuilding and formation of a new constitution the aim to build a society based on the principles of sustainable development is evident. Education is an important part in the rebuilding. This thesis is a case study of Nxuba Senior Primary School in the traditionally black township Lingelihle in Eastern Cape. The objective is to analyse how the school management can engage in environmental issues and take the role of promoting values, attitudes and lifestyles for sustainable development to its learners. There are three research questions: What environmental related projects are being done at Nxuba Senior Primary School? How do the school management motivate the projects? How do these projects affect the learners’ environmental awareness and ability to act pro-environmentally? The thesis is based on a field study where school documents were analysed and in-depth interviews with the school management and a questionnaire among the learners were carried out. The theoretical framework that is presented discusses what factors influence sustainable behaviour and what conditions foster pro-environmental behaviour among children. Four environmental related projects are identified at the school; a recycling project, an environmental awareness club, a vegetable garden as well as an indigenous garden and greening of the school. Based on the questionnaire the learners’ attitudes towards environmental issues and their pro-environmental behaviour are examined. In the discussion the motives behind the projects concluded to be a combination of environmental and social motives. The projects are put in relation to Stern’s four factors influencing pro-environmental behaviour and Chawla and Cushing Flanders’ six conditions for fostering pro-environmental behaviour among children.

Using the action-based model of dissonance (Harmon-Jones, Amodio, & Harmon-Jones, 2009) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2008) as theoretical frameworks, this thesis sought to explain the motivational processes underlying the environmental belief-action gap. The thesis examined why and how people resolve inconsistencies between their favourable attitudes toward environmental protection and their environmentally harmful behaviour. I hypothesized that accounting for individual differences in autonomous and controlled distal motives for effective and unconflicted action would clarify why attitude-behaviour inconsistencies are uncomfortable and explain how people compensate for them. I carried out 3 sets of studies to test the proposed hierarchical action-based model of inconsistency compensation in the environmental domain (HABICE). The objective of the first set of 3 studies was to test hypotheses about the role of individual differences in global and contextual motivation on dissonance arousal, in response to native attitude-behaviour inconsistencies encountered across and within important life domains. The second set of 3 studies tested hypotheses about the role of individual differences in contextual motivation toward the environment on the use and choice of strategies to compensate for a recent native inconsistency in the environmental domain. Finally, the goal of the final study was to test hypotheses about the moderating effect of social factors that direct attention to public (ego-invested) versus private (authentic) aspects of the self during the perception of inconsistencies on motivation and intentions to revise pro-global warming mitigation attitudes. The results of the 7 studies (total N = 2,209) supported the main predictions of the HABICE. The cumulative evidence supported the existence of two motivational orientations operating during inconsistency compensation processes. The autonomous motivational orientation, which embodies action tendencies to facilitate organismic integration via authentic regulation, motivated people to compensate for attitude-behaviour inconsistencies to restore the integrity of authentic self-structures. As a result, autonomous motivation toward the environment led people to reduce dissonance and to compensate for perceived inconsistencies by bringing their behaviour in line with self-relevant attitudes. The controlled motivational orientation, which embodies action tendencies to facilitate instrumental outcomes via contingent regulation, motivated people to compensate for attitude-behaviour inconsistencies to protect ego-invested self-structures by avoiding the aversive consequences of their counter-environmental actions. When inconsistencies aroused dissonance, controlled motivation predicted the use of overt behavioural strategies, for example enacting a compensatory pro-environmental action, to reduce dissonance. However, when inconsistencies did not arouse dissonance or there were barriers to behaviour change, controlled motivation predicted the use of cognitive strategies, for example revising or distorting pro-environmental attitudes, to minimize the inconsistency. Consequently, autonomous compensation processes predicted relatively infrequent attitude-behaviour inconsistencies in the environmental domain while controlled compensation processes predicted relatively frequent inconsistencies. The results imply that controlled motivation toward the environment may be driving the environmental belief-action gap, but that finding ways to promote autonomous motivation toward the environment in the general population has the potential to alleviate the gap.

Considering current urban challenges within the United States, the stewardship of massive, unsustainable living and consumption, collaborative cohousing communities appear to hold substantial potential as agents of change delivering sustainable-oriented lifestyles. This research examines the internal drives that intervene in adopting environmentally friendly habits and explores how they are facilitated inside this type of residence. In order to observe the benefits and limitations of this type of degrowth-oriented housing, this study covers the transformative learning experiences within cohousing residents through the conduction of semi-structured interviews as the primary method. For this research, two cohousing communities have been selected in the states of Vermont and Iowa.  Throughout the study, different drives associated with the attainment of sustainable environments have been identified. Among them, we find drives connected to the built space and the social organisation of the communities. Emphasis is also given to the internal strategies by which these drives intervene in the materialisation of environmentally friendly lifestyles. The study points out those drives that deem cohousing a beneficial tool to challenge existing economic norms and social paradigms. This study can serve as the basis for further research exploring the possibilities of considering the depicted drives as guiding models for sustainable living among more traditional forms of housing.

Thesis (M.Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The primary objective of the study was to examine the effect of values (biospheric values, altruistic values, egoistic values and openness to change values) on voluntary pro-environmental behaviour of employees of SMMEs.In addition, the study investigated the moderating effect of demographic variables (gender, age and level of education) in the relationship between values and pro-environmental behaviour. The quantitative approach was utilised and the cross-sectional survey method was used to collect data from the respondents that were conveniently sampled. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure reliability and the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS SEM) was utilised to analyse data. The findings of the study indicated that biospheric values has a negative relationship with employees’ voluntary proenvironmental behaviour. Three values (altruistic, egoistic and openness to change values) have significant positive relationships with voluntary pro-environmental behaviour of employees. The moderating effects of gender, age and level of education are insignificant. Recommendations on how to use values to improve the voluntary pro-environmental behaviour of employees of SMMEs are outlined.

Achieving the carbon emission reductions necessary to address climate change is proving challenging. Voluntary behaviour change by individuals has the potential to make a substantial contribution to decreasing carbon emissions, but generally that potential is not being realised. Group-based interventions, however, may offer an effective method for promoting significant and durable changes in pro-environmental behaviour leading to carbon reductions. This thesis evaluates Footpaths, a group-based programme designed and implemented by Transition Leicester and consisting of seven sessions. The study investigates the effectiveness of the programme, using a longitudinal mixed-methods approach to facilitate understanding of both measurable results and the processes leading to those results. The Reasonable Person Model (RPM) is used as a theoretical framework to aid understanding of the way in which group-based interventions may promote pro-environmental behaviour. Data were collected from participants just before and immediately after involvement with the Footpaths programme, as well as a year after the sessions commenced. Questionnaires were administered at all three times and semi-structured interviews were conducted after the last session. Participants also completed a carbon footprint calculator at all three times and provided data on measured energy use. Findings show that Footpaths participants reduced their carbon footprints by 15 percent over the course of the sessions, and continued to reduce their carbon footprints resulting in a 20 percent reduction over the course of a year. Pro-environmental behaviour increased, including increases in harder to change behaviours, and measured energy use decreased. Increases in pro-environmental behaviour and reductions in carbon footprint were associated with increased understanding, greater feelings of competence, and reduced confusion; all considered to be elements of a supportive informational environment. Participants highlighted the importance of having an opportunity to examine their own behaviour coupled with active engagement with information over a period of time. Neither feedback nor a desire for social contact were related to increases in pro-environmental behaviour. Pro-environmental behaviour was more closely associated with both worldview and attitude after participation in Footpaths possibly indicating a closer alignment between attitude and behaviour after participation. This research suggests that group-based interventions are effective in promoting significant and durable changes in pro-environmental behaviour and it provides interesting insight into the design of successful interventions to encourage such behaviour. Findings highlight the potential value of the RPM as an integrative framework for understanding the characteristics of interventions that successfully promote durable sustainable behaviours.

Communicating climate change and other long-term environmental issues to the wider public is a challenging process involving many barriers to action. Visualisations have the ability to overcome these barriers. Furthermore, the benefits of visual images over verbal information have been supported. However, there is a lack of research on how visual images can motivate behaviour. Based on Elaborated Intrusion theory, it is proposed that visual images can be internalised as mental images which can act as a ‘motivational bridge’ for pro-environmental behaviour. Six studies exposed participants to visual pro-environmental messages. Throughout all studies images were internalised as mental images, associated with intrusive thoughts. Consistently, mental images were strongly associated with pro-environmental goals and behaviour change (self-report and actual). Also, interfering with visual mental imagery, using cognitive tasks, reduced self-reported behaviour change (Study 6). Overall, two motivational roles of mental imagery emerged: mental images can trigger pro-environmental goals and can strengthen the relationship between pro-environmental goals and behaviour. The development, strength, and vividness of mental imagery depended on interacting individual and message characteristics. A vivid message was more effective when the message topic was relevant to the target individual (Study 2). Also, a message in line with existing values evoked more vivid mental imagery (Studies 2 to 6). A message could activate specific values as well if mental imagery was not interfered with (Study 5 and 6). And finally, positive and negative images were associated with different feelings, but could both be internalised and motivate behaviour (Study 3 and 6). A combined message could overcome the negative feelings associated with a fear appeal (Study 6). This thesis developed a theoretical framework, integrating approaches from social and cognitive psychology, which can help explain and predict responses to visual environmental messages. Six studies showed that the effect of a visual image on behaviour depends, among other factors, on its ability to trigger recurring mental imagery. Insights provide opportunities for designing evidence based visual pro-environmental messages. In turn this can maximise the impact visual messages have on changing people’s pro-environmental behaviour.

This programme of research was focused on developing a better understanding of pro-environmental behaviours and pro-environmental behaviour change, with consideration of the powerful effect of habits in thinking, affect and behaviour. Habit networks are discussed with reference to HOT topics (Habits, Opportunities and Thoughts), and explored empirically within the context of the FIT Framework (Fletcher & Stead, 2000). This programme of research started with a literature review on established models of pro-environmental behaviour. It found a large degree of similarity in the approaches used to conceptualise pro-environmental behaviour, and suggested the need to explore pro-environmental activity from different perspectives. The FIT Framework was then presented as an alternative approach. FIT variables measure the strength of an individual's cognitive characteristics and their degree of behavioural flexibility using the FIT Profiler (Fletcher, 1999). The empirical studies presented in this programme of research suggest that levels of personal FITness are related to engagement with pro-environmental activity and the extent to which lifestyles are environmentally sustainable. Study 1 (N = 325) explored the relationships between FITness and measures of pro-environmental activity, and Study 2 (N = 134) sought to confirm these relationships in a different sample. Both studies found positive relationships between levels of personal FITness and pro-environmental activity. Based on these results, it was suggested that FIT offers a useful alternative framework to study pro-environmental activity. Studies 3 (N = 75) and 4 (N = 100) considered the performance of pro-environmental behaviours in different sites of practice, as follow-up to the differences that emerged in Studies 1 and 2. They also explored the perceived influence of intrinsic and extrinsic variables on energy saving in home and work settings. The results suggested that the pro-environmental behaviours that are performed at home are often not transferred to the workplace and this might be because extrinsic factors in an organisational setting constrain action. Higher levels of personal FITness helped to align behaviours with intrinsic beliefs; individuals with higher levels of FITness behaved as they felt they ought to, whereas individuals with lower levels of FITness behaved as they were told to. It was suggested, therefore, that higher levels of FITness might support behavioural consistency across contexts. Study 5 (N = 95) explored the extent to which pro-environmental behaviours are characterised by habit and how the strength of habit changes according to level of personal FITness. The results suggested that people act pro-environmentally within distinct behaviour categories and this has little or no bearing on their propensity to behave in an environmentally friendly way in other areas. Habits can have a positive influence on the performance of pro-environmental behaviour but a negative influence on behaviour change. The empirical results suggest that a higher level of FITness might help people to engage more readily with pro-environmental behaviours that are performed less frequently. It was, therefore, suggested that developing levels of personal FITness might help individuals to extend their behavioural repertoire and be sufficiently flexible to include more pro-environmental behaviours, including those that are, at present, characterised less by habit. A second literature review on interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change found that many techniques have been developed from the perspective of bounded rationality and have assumed that the provision of information will initiate behaviour change. These approaches are often ineffective because of the resistive effects of habit. In light of this and the findings of the empirical studies, a FIT-based behaviour change intervention, named here as Do Something Greener, was developed as an alternative approach to address directly the problem of habit. Overall, this programme of research suggests that the influence of habits, opportunities, and thoughts should be considered in the study of pro-environmental activity. Further research exploring the effectiveness of Do Something Greener for pro-environmental behaviour change is necessary and planned as the next step in this programme of research. By exploring pro-environmental behaviour from a different perspective, it is hoped that this programme of research has also challenged some of the habitual tendencies that researchers are themselves starting to develop in relation to the study of pro-environmental behaviour, and that it has added a degree of eclecticism and pragmatism to psychological approaches to pro-environmental behaviour change. It is hoped that this will help to set a more practically oriented agenda for future research.

Energy is largely invisible to users. It has been argued that employing technologies to visualise energy will assist people in conserving energy. Energy visibility interventions have largely focussed on appliance use and electricity consumption. This thesis aims to firstly explore whether making heat visible, using thermal images, promotes heat (and thereby energy) conservation. Secondly using a multiple method approach, it explores how. Five studies were employed. Study One and Three investigated whether using thermal images as a tailored antecedent intervention would promote energy conservation behaviours. The results confirmed that the images led to a reduction in Kg CO2 emissions attributed to domestic energy use. Study One and Three indicated that householders undertook more energy saving behaviours in relation to those aspects that were visible in the images. These actions were attributed to simple, energy saving behaviours such as proofing draughts. Study Two investigated how people make sense of the images and how behaviours are promoted by the images. Study two suggested that the images provide a unique medium through which factors which contribute to energy saving can be combined and reasoned by the viewer. It suggests the psychological factors in a pathway from prompt to behaviour. Study Four established that showing the images in an information presentation was not as effective when influencing participants’ ideas about energy conservation. Finally, Study Five explored participants gaze and demonstrated how features of the images, can attract the viewer. The novel contribution of this thesis is in establishing that ‘making heat visible’ through a tailored thermal imaging prompt can increase the likelihood of a householder taking simple energy saving actions, by providing a novel medium through which householders attend to heat and energy use.