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2015 | Book

What Are Pro-Environmental Behaviors (PEBs)? Read chapter Read first chapter

Pro-environmental Behaviors

Author: Kiyo Kurisu

Publisher: Springer Japan

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This book offers a much-needed practical and conceptual guide for various pro-environmental behaviors. Written by an expert in both the environmental psychology and engineering fields, the book presents an overview of various pro-environmental behaviors (Chapter 1), the psychological background of behaviors (Chapters 2 and 3), how to survey and understand pro-environmental behaviors using questionnaires (Chapter 4) and how to know the actual environmental burdens derived by each behavior using life-cycle assessment (LCA) (Chapter 5), and measures to foster the behaviors and selected case studies for practitioners (Chapter 6). Readers will find Chapters 1, 4, and 5 particularly unique and useful; they provide an overview of many environmental behaviors and also the practical academic tools for analyzing environmental behaviors, such as questionnaire procedures, questions lists (“scales” in psychology), statistical tools, software, LCA methodologies, and databases.

The book addresses the needs of academics and practitioners and is well suited as a textbook and reference guide for those studying or working in environmental engineering (systematic research), social psychology (environmental psychology), environmental education, and sustainability science. Policymakers will find the questionnaire list useful, as it can help them to grasp citizens’ environmental concerns and actual behaviors. The behavior list and LCA can be used to make manuals or guidelines for citizens to enhance environmental behaviors, and the case studies provide an informative basis for designing programs and workshops for citizens.

Although the field of “pro-environmental behaviors” has been intensively dealt with by European researchers, their approaches have largely been limited to psychological viewpoints and program (education) development through small case studies. Further, the target behaviors are often limited to recycling and energy/water savings.

In contrast, this book provides the first introduction to pro-environmental behaviors as a whole. As pro-environmental behaviors have become increasingly important not only in developed but also in developing countries, this publication represents a timely resource for the growing number of researchers exploring pro-environment behaviors.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. What Are Pro-Environmental Behaviors (PEBs)?
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). There is no catchall definition or way to categorize PEBs; therefore, I propose various definitions and ways to categorize PEBs. Two main definitions for PEBs are shown here: purpose oriented and fact oriented. The relationships between these definitions are clearly shown in a diagram. Based on these definitions, narrowly defined PEBs and other definitions can be understood. In addition, based on various aspects, such as place, actor, influential fields, sub-impacts, household PEBs, and repeatability, the possible lower-level categorizations of PEBs are explained. Finally, I summarize behaviors proposed by various environmental agencies and present a list of 200 PEBs. In the list, the main classification is based on the major targets for reduction, such as greenhouse gases, air pollutants, water pollutants, resource consumption, and disturbance of nature, with 12 categories under the main targets, which are standard in many places. Under each category, subcategories are also shown, which can be modified by users.
Kiyo Kurisu
Chapter 2. Influential Factors on PEBs
Abstract
In conducting PEBs, some factors can work as barriers while others act as accelerators. This chapter summarizes these barriers and accelerators and also explains the influence of psychological factors on PEBs. In the first section (2.1), various reasons to conduct and not to conduct PEBs are listed, and the relationships between the reasons and influential factors are shown. In the second section (2.2), the psychological factors, such as norm, attitude, affect, and cognitive dissonance, are explained. The influence of other factors, such as cost and benefit and knowledge, is explained in the following sections (2.3 and 2.4). In addition to the influence of sociodemographics, such as gender, age, education, and income, on the PEBs and environmental attitudes (Sect. 2.5), the influence of personality is also shown in Sect. 2.6. In the final section (2.7), the influence of situational factors, such as contextual and institutional factors, is explained.
The relationships between these factors can be illustrated by various models, which are described in more detail in Chap. 3.
Kiyo Kurisu
Chapter 3. Behavior Model Development for Understanding PEBs
Abstract
Various models have been proposed to aid understanding of the key factors for PEBs and the relationships between them. This chapter explains some of the more well-known general behavior models that can be applied to PEBs, such as Schwartz’s model and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model first. Then, models specific to PEBs, such as value–belief–norm (VBN) model, motivation–opportunity–ability (MOA) model, and two-phase model, are explained. Besides, since many works have been conducted to investigate the determinants for PEBs, the motivation to compile and assess the preceding works naturally rises. The meta-analyses of preceding works are also shown in this chapter and finally the empirical models which refer to several theories empirically show the relationships involving not only sociopsychological variables but also sometimes sociodemographic variables. The aim of these trials is not to establish a new theory but to show the applicability of previous theories and to understand the influential factors on the target PEB. In the final section, several examples of these trials are shown.
Kiyo Kurisu
Chapter 4. How to Survey PEBs
Abstract
To know the current condition of people’s environmental attitudes and practice rates of PEBs, questionnaire surveys are possible ways to collect data. In this chapter, the basic elements of questionnaire surveys are explained. In the first section (4.1), the ways to prepare the question items are explained. Then, in Sect. 4.2, the scales, especially about the scales for environmental attitudes and personalities, are explained. In this section, you can find various items previously proposed by many studies to measure environmental attitudes. Besides, two personalities which can have some relationships with environmental attitudes, such as “cultural theory” and “locus of control,” are explained and items to measure these personalities are also shown. In Sect. 4.3, the points which you should have in mind when you decide the wording of questions are explained. In Sect. 4.4, various methods of questionnaire surveys, such as interviews and postal surveys, are explained, and the details of online questionnaire are particularly explained. Finally, after getting the data, you need some statistical analyses. In the final section (4.5), the basic data handling ways including statistical analyses are explained.
Kiyo Kurisu
Chapter 5. Application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to Assess Actual Environmental Burdens Driven by PEBs
Abstract
As discussed in Chap. 1, an accurate evaluation of each behavior’s environmental footprint is not always necessary. However, if we discuss which behavior is more environment friendly, scientific background data can help us. The quantitatively calculated data can be persuasive, especially when we conduct environmental education programs. For that purpose, life cycle assessment (LCA) can be a powerful tool to assess the total environmental footprint derived from a target behavior.
In this chapter, we provide an overview of LCA using specific topics relating to the application and evaluation of behaviors.
In the first Sect. (5.1), the history and outline of LCA are shown. In Sect. 5.2, the important features to determine the LCA results, such as functional unit and system boundary, are explained. Then in the following Sects. 5.3 and 5.4, the details of life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) are shown, respectively. LCI is the process of gathering input data on the processes of interest, such as energy and resources, and the output data, such as products and environmental loadings, to create an input–output table. When it comes to LCIA, the impacts derived from the emitted environmental loadings are evaluated. In these sections, the indexes used in the analyses are also explained. I will show a rough example of LCA procedure in Sect. 5.5 and case study about selection of drink containers in Sect. 5.7. These sections can help readers understand the specific procedures of LCA and get output image of LCA results.
Kiyo Kurisu
Chapter 6. Trials to Foster PEBs
Abstract
Various interventions to foster PEBs have been proposed by many researchers. In this chapter, those strategies are explained. In Sect. 6.1, the intervention methods, such as commitment, goal setting, introduction of leaders, foot-in-the-door technique, feedback, and incentive/reward, are explained. Other methods enhancing psychological factors (especially norm activation) are explained in Sect. 6.2. In Sect. 6.3, the methods using “information” are explained. Examples of information for enhancing “norms” such as descriptive norm, injunctive norm, and personal norm and for providing “knowledge” such as declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and effectiveness can help readers catch the outline. Each intervention method is based on some psychological factors. The relationships are shown in a diagram in Sect. 6.4. Labeling is one of the information provision methodologies and can have some impact on consumers to select products. The details are explained in Sect. 6.5. In Sect. 6.6, the trials using life cycle assessment (LCA) results and life cycle thinking (LCT) concepts are shown. Other programs or campaigns are explained in Sect. 6.7. In the final section (6.8), some ideas and new trials for achieving widespread and lasting influence of fostering PEBs are shown.
Kiyo Kurisu
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Pro-environmental Behaviors
Author
Kiyo Kurisu
Copyright Year
2015
Publisher
Springer Japan
Electronic ISBN
978-4-431-55834-7
Print ISBN
978-4-431-55832-3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55834-7