Investigating The Underlying Pro-environmental Behaviour Factor Using Bifactor And Second-order Models - Info and Reading Options

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General Background Pro-environmental behaviour refers to any behaviour or set of behaviours that minimise harm to the environment or benefit the environment (Steg & Vlek, 2009). Given the impact of human behaviour on environmental challenges (Abbass et al., 2022), understanding pro-environmental behaviour is a priority for environmental psychologists. While many studies focused on specific pro-environmental behaviours in isolation (e.g., recycling, energy conservation), it is still unclear whether there is a common underlying factor that drives engagement in multiple pro-environmental behaviours. Research suggests that pro-environmental behaviours are influenced by multiple factors that may vary across behavioural domains and contexts (Gifford & Nilsson, 2014). These factors include personal motivations, such as environmental concern, financial considerations, and health concerns, as well as external factors like policy frameworks, social norms, and infrastructural availability. There might be common motivators that drive engagement in multiple pro-environmental behaviours, such as the concept of a “moral circle”. Bratanova et al. (2012) found that individuals who perceive animals, future generations, and the environment as part of their ‘moral circle’ are more likely to engage in a variety of more sustainable practices. This suggests that while pro-environmental behaviours may vary across different contexts, a broader ethical orientation might be an important underlying factor. Some argue for a multidimensional approach to pro-environmental behaviour that considers these behaviours as distinct yet interconnected, while others suggest that a general pro-environmental tendency could account for the observed consistencies (Steg & Vlek, 2009). Understanding whether a unified pro-environmental factor exists, or if behaviours are driven by specific, context-dependent factors, is important for designing effective interventions that target the most salient motivators for various behavioural domains. Measurement of PEB To be able to investigate the structure of pro-environmental behaviour, a measure incorporating all relevant domains of pro-environmental behaviour is needed. A number of measures of pro-environmental behaviour (PEBs) have been developed and used in primary research (e.g., Kaiser & Wilson, 2004; Markle, 2013). However, Gatersleben (2023) highlights that environmental impact (i.e., changes in the environment caused by human activities) is not often considered by environmental psychologists when they choose the behaviours they want to measure. As such, the most environmentally impactful behaviours may not always form the focus of empirical investigations. A new impact-focused scale will be developed as part of the current study, that will support exploration of the factor structure of pro-environmental behaviours. This will encompass seven dimensions. Six of the selected domains are impact-focused: water conservation, energy conservation, resource management, transportation, food consumption, and family planning. Although not considered impact-focused, the domain of civic actions was also included as a separate domain. Lange and Dewitte (2019) identified that public sphere behaviours (e.g., environmental activism) have not been as often included in measures of pro-environmental behaviour as private sphere behaviours (e.g., sustainable waste disposal). Markle (2013) also justified adding “environmental citizenship behaviours”, such as membership in an environmental organisation and donating money, to his impact-focused scale based on Stern’s observation (2000, p.409) “[a]lthough these behaviors affect the environment only indirectly, by influencing public policies, the effects may be large, because public policies can change the behaviors of many people and organizations at once”. Current study The current study aims to investigate the structure of pro-environmental behaviour. To achieve this, we will develop a measure of pro-environmental behaviour that encompasses most environmentally significant behaviours. Specifically, we are interested in whether there is a single underlying pro-environmental factor (“e-factor”) that influences engagement in different behavioural domains (e.g., energy conservation, resource management, and sustainable transportation). We hypothesise that there might be an underlying pro-environmental factor that captures a general propensity towards pro-environmental behaviours. As pro-environmental behaviours can be driven by different goals, and not all pro-environmental behaviours are conducted with the goal of being more sustainable. We will conduct exploratory analyses including additional variables (i.e., environmental concern, pro-social behaviour, pro-environmental identity, financial concern, and health concern) modelled as predictors of the items or correlates of the model. For instance, it is possible that health concerns may predict more sustainable food consumption, as more sustainable foods (e.g., pulses) are often considered healthier than the less sustainable alternatives (e.g., meat products); however, it is unlikely that health concerns will predict engagement in civic actions as taking part in environmental demonstrations.

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