A variety of factors have been shown to be associated with environmental attitudes but few studies demonstrate a link between these factors and pro-environmental behaviors. This study examined how a future temporal perspective, environmental altruism, and hope are related to (1) engaging in pro-environmental behaviors and (2) length of time engaging in pro-environmental behaviors. Participants completed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), a measure of pro-environmental behaviors based on altruistic reasoning, the Trait Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991), and a self-report measure which requested that participants estimate how long they have engaged in pro-environmental behaviors. Statistical analyses supported the relationship between altruism and pro-environmental behaviors, however, the role of hope and a future orientation were not supported as potential motivators associated with engaging in pro-environmental behaviors. Altruism continues to be associated with engaging in pro-environmental behaviors, however, it is still unclear what moderates this relationship. Moreover, this research highlights the likelihood that engaging in pro-environmental behaviors is influenced by a complex web of motivating factors.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a variety of factors on environmental attitudes and behaviors. Studies have addressed a number of issues that are related to environmental matters. This examination extends the research in this area by incorporating educational attainment, political ideology, gender, marriage and family formation, religiosity and subjective spirituality, race and ethnicity, as well as several sociodemographic influences. The 2010 General Social Survey is selected for the analysis because it is the most recent data available and contains items pertaining to environmental concern and behavior, and the independent and control variables. Directions for future research in the area will be discussed.

The aim of this study was to examine pre-service science teachers&rsquo / self-determined motivation toward environment and investigate how their basic psychological needs that support their self-determined motivation were fullfilled during the environmental course activities. The thesis includes two main parts: a quantitative part and a qualitative part. In the quantitative part of the study, PSTs&rsquo / motivation toward environment was measured before, after and five months later following the course activities. In the qualitative part of the study, how PSTs&rsquo / basic psychological needs were supported during the course activities was examined through multiple case study method. The study was implemented in an environmental science course. 33 pre-service science teachers who are taking the course participated in the study. Environmental problems which are Easter Island, Environment vs. Economy, Paper vs. Plastic, Ozone Depletion, Why Worry about Extinction?, Hasankeyf and Mamak Garbage Dump were discussed during the six course weeks. Five PSTs, who were chosen as a focus group, were interviewed each week after course discussions. The qualitative data were collected through interviews, discussion recordings, assignments and reflection papers. The results of the study illustrated that PSTs&rsquo / self determined motivation toward environment increased after the course activities and five months later following the course. PSTs&rsquo / negative capacity beliefs causing amotivation toward environment declined after the course activities and in follow up measurement. Finally, qualitative results of the study revealed that supporting cognitive and instructional features of PSTs during the course activities fullfilled their basic psychological needs and thus, fostered their self determined motivation toward environment.

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

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.

Some human actions are linked to the decline of the environment on a planetary scale. In order to motivate individuals to adopt pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), it is important to understand how individuals react when exposed to persuasive messages. The goal of this program of research was to examine the influence of images of climate change causes, consequences, and solutions on the relationships between environmental motivation, psychological discomfort, discomfort compensation strategies, as well as changes in pro-environmental attitude and PEBs. In Study 1 (N = 199), I identified visual stimuli (pictures) depicting causes, consequences or solutions to global warming to be used in Study 2. Also, I examined the relationship between environmental motivation and competency on the perception of these pictures. The results indicated that the pictures depicting causes or consequences were perceived more negatively than pictures depicting solutions. In addition, findings showed that regardless of the individual’s perceived level of environmental competence and their type of motivation towards PEBs, individuals had a negative perception of pictures depicting causes and consequences to global warming as well as a positive perception of pictures related to solutions to global warming. In Study 2 (N = 312), I examined the relationships between environmental motivation, psychological discomfort, discomfort compensation strategies, as well as changes in pro-environmental attitude and PEBs following the exposition to images identified in Study 1. Three models based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Action-Based Model, and the Hierarchical Action-Based model of Inconsistency Compensation in the Environment (HABICE) domain were examined. The results indicated that exposure to pictures alone is not enough to generate a significant change in pro-environmental attitude or PEBs. The findings showed that the SDT model was best suited to explain the process leading to PEBs changes when exposed to pictures depicting causes of global warming. Finally, the results indicated that the HABICE model was best suited to explain changes in pro-environmental attitude when individuals are exposed to pictures depicting consequences. The HABICE was also a good model to explain the relationships among the different variables when individuals are exposed to pictures depicting solutions to global warming. Overall, this program of research contributed to both SDT and the HABICE models by supporting their conceptual framework.

With a growing interest in sustainability, organizations and researchers have begun to examine pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace (i.e. employee green behaviors). However, general understanding of employee green behaviors is currently limited due to a lack of measurement tools. In this study, a new scale was developed to measure employee green behavior descriptive norms, which are a source of influence on employee green behaviors that develops from observing others’ behaviors. Initial items and expected scale structure for the Employee Green Behavior Descriptive Norms Scale were developed based on the Green Five Taxonomy of employee green behaviors. Items were refined through pilot test data and a retranslation task. Data on the refined scale, the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire, and a Work-Family Culture Scale were used to test scale structure and gather evidence of construct validity. Study results supported the expected scale structure and construct validity of the newly developed scale. A multi-item, validated scale contributes to organizational assessment of employee green behavior descriptive norms and contributes to the scientific literature on employee green behaviors.

Cette thèse vise à apporter des éléments de réponse au sujet du statut théorique de la Perspective Temporelle (PT) et plus précisément de l’extension temporelle future (mesurée par l’échelle Consideration of Future Consequences - CFC). Nous centrant sur l’idée de double contextualisation, nos résultats montrent, d’une part, que la CFC a bien un rôle contextualisant puisqu’elle influence la façon dont les individus appréhendent les problématiques environnementales. Si cette dimension contextualisante est bien établie dans la littérature, nous montrons d’autre part que l’effet de la CFC est un effet contextualisé, dépendant des enjeux sociaux associés à la situation. Cet angle d’approche de l’expérience temporelle est moins exploré dans la littérature, alors que c’est justement cette nécessaire prise en compte du contexte qui fonde l’approche psychosociale et la distingue d’une approche plus différentialiste. Afin de mettre en évidence cet effet contextualisé, nous avons d’abord montré que la CFC était dépendante de l’insertion sociale des sujets. Nous avons ensuite mis en évidence le caractère dynamique et socialement inscrit de la relation entre CFC et comportements écocitoyens, médiatisée par la perception des risques écologiques, variable sociocognitive. Dans une visée de triangulation, nous avons également réalisé une série de recherches expérimentales dans le cadre du paradigme de la communication engageante. Les résultats indiquent que le score de CFC des sujets influence leur sensibilité aux arguments présentés dans un message persuasif et leur acceptation face à une requête coûteuse engageante (rôle contextualisant), ces effets étant modulés par le contexte (condition contrôle vs. communication persuasive vs. communication engageante). Enfin, nous avons observé qu’il était possible de modifier, au moins momentanément, la sensibilité des sujets aux conséquences à long terme de leurs comportements dans le cadre d’une procédure de communication engageante. / This thesis aims to provide elements about the theoretical status of Time Perspective (TP), and more specifically of future time extension (as measured by the Consideration of Future Consequences scale - CFC). Focusing on the idea of double contextualization, our results show, on the one hand, that CFC plays a contextualizing role since it influences the way in which individuals apprehend environmental issues. If this contextualizing role is well established, we show on the other hand that the effect of CFC is a contextualized effect, depending on the social issues associated with the situation. This way of dealing with time experience is less explored in the literature, whereas it is precisely by taking account the context that a psychosocial approach distinguishes itself from a more personality-based conception. To highlight this contextualized effect, we first showed that CFC was dependent on the social insertion of the subjects. We then put in evidence the dynamic and socially marked character of the relationship between CFC and pro-environmental behaviors, mediated by the perception of ecological risks, a socio-cognitive variable. In an aim of triangulation, we also conducted a series of experimental research based on the binding communication paradigm. The results indicate that the CFC score influences the sensitivity to the arguments of a persuasive message and the acceptance of a costly query (contextualizing role), these effects being modulated by the context (control condition vs. persuasive communication vs. binding communication). Finally, we observed that it was possible to modify, at least momentarily, the sensitivity about long-term consequences of behaviors through a binding communication procedure.

Energy consumption is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and to climate change. Renewable energy sources are one way of mitigating the problem, but behavioral change and reductions in consumption are also required. In addition, little is known about how energy conservation behaviors are driven or hindered at workplaces, but it has been found in previous research that employee engagement is an important factor. Therefore, this study takes a mixed method approach utilizing the framework of Community-Based Social Marketing at a pharmaceutical manufacturing site in Sweden to investigate drivers and barriers to energy conservation, designing an intervention aiming at increasing employee engagement as well as changing behaviors, and evaluating the study using interviews, surveys and real time measurements. The findings of this study suggest that several factors act as barriers and drivers to energy conservation behaviors at work, e.g., interest, organizational culture, work processes and commitment from the company and management. The designed intervention, an inclusionary trans- disciplinary workshop, seems to have increased engagement and has preliminarily influenced pro-environmental behavior changes, as well as mitigated some barriers and strengthened some drivers.

This dissertation consists of three journal articles that explored the effectiveness of a digital game, called EnerCities, in producing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors by using a mixed-methods study approach. The first study was conducted as a quasi-experimental study among undergraduate students in the United States. Based on the Attitudinal Learning Instrument (ALI), this study found that the attitudinal learning gained from EnerCities influenced participants’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions significantly. This learning was retained until five weeks after game play according to the qualitative results of the study. The second study, conducted in India, used EnerCities to study the differences in attitudinal learning among high school students who played the game collaboratively or individually, using the ALI and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Results showed that the attitudinal learning and its effect on pro-environmental behavioral intentions between collaborative and individual players was similar. This study also showed that EnerCities had significantly impacted the environmental attitudes and behaviors of the game players when compared to students who did not play any game, although all students had studied environmental studies through traditional instructional methods since elementary school. The third study, conducted among high school students in India, compared the environmental attitudes between game players and students who did not play any game based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. Both the unidimensional and multi-dimensional properties of the NEP were considered. It was found that EnerCities had impacted game players’ environmental attitudes significantly. All the three studies showed that digital games are more effective in promoting attitudinal (cognitive, affective, behavioral and social) learning compared to traditional instructional methods. This supports the implementation of digital games as a pedagogical tool in influencing environmental attitudes and behaviors.