Why act sustainable? : Exploring what can be learnt from different approaches to motivations for pro-environmental behaviour

To combat anthropogenic climate change, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced. Though one person’s actions cannot turn the tide, so to say, the combined effort of many individuals can. To this end, numerous studies have investigated theoretically supported motivations – for example financial, environmental, hedonistic, moral, or normative motivations – underlying pro-environmental behaviours. To understand the causal relationship between these motivations and behaviours, studies tend to look at how such variables are associated across individuals. In observational studies, it is not easy to infer whether associations indicate a causal process or emerge from confounding pathways. This implies that positive associations between motivations and behaviour in an observational study do not necessarily imply that increasing individuals’ motivations will increase pro-environmental behaviour. This thesis presents and discusses studies that investigated associations between motivations and intentions to engage in pro-environmental behaviour using two different research designs – observational and experimental – and by looking at inter- and intraindividual variation in observational data. Papers I-III reveal that in data from observational designs, associations between motivations and intentions differ contingent on whether one uses an inter- or intraindividual approach to variation. Concretely, while financial and normative motivations were not predictive of variation in intentions between individuals, they were predictive of variation in intentions within individuals. That is, those with stronger financial and normative motivations compared to others did not have stronger intentions, per se, yet, when an individual reported a stronger financial or normative motivation for a specific behaviour compared to other behaviours, they tended to have stronger intentions towards the behaviour. In Paper III, an experimental manipulation that raised environmental motivations was not found to raise intentions. Overall, when associations are investigated in a way that is more closely aligned with the theoretically proposed mechanism (i.e., causal processes occurring within individuals), there seems more support for the motivational hypotheses predicted by theories.

Why act sustainable? : Exploring what can be learnt from different approaches to motivations for pro-environmental behaviour

To combat anthropogenic climate change, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced. Though one person’s actions cannot turn the tide, so to say, the combined effort of many individuals can. To this end, numerous studies have investigated theoretically supported motivations – for example financial, environmental, hedonistic, moral, or normative motivations – underlying pro-environmental behaviours. To understand the causal relationship between these motivations and behaviours, studies tend to look at how such variables are associated across individuals. In observational studies, it is not easy to infer whether associations indicate a causal process or emerge from confounding pathways. This implies that positive associations between motivations and behaviour in an observational study do not necessarily imply that increasing individuals’ motivations will increase pro-environmental behaviour. This thesis presents and discusses studies that investigated associations between motivations and intentions to engage in pro-environmental behaviour using two different research designs – observational and experimental – and by looking at inter- and intraindividual variation in observational data. Papers I-III reveal that in data from observational designs, associations between motivations and intentions differ contingent on whether one uses an inter- or intraindividual approach to variation. Concretely, while financial and normative motivations were not predictive of variation in intentions between individuals, they were predictive of variation in intentions within individuals. That is, those with stronger financial and normative motivations compared to others did not have stronger intentions, per se, yet, when an individual reported a stronger financial or normative motivation for a specific behaviour compared to other behaviours, they tended to have stronger intentions towards the behaviour. In Paper III, an experimental manipulation that raised environmental motivations was not found to raise intentions. Overall, when associations are investigated in a way that is more closely aligned with the theoretically proposed mechanism (i.e., causal processes occurring within individuals), there seems more support for the motivational hypotheses predicted by theories.

THOU SHALLT NOT SELL NATURE : A STUDY ON HOW TABOO TRADE-OFFS AFFECT OUR PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR

Background: Humans are part of social-ecological systems, and preferably these systems are resilient, as this increases security of societal benefits derived from them. However, ecosystem-resilience is often threatened by loss/degradation of natural areas. Ideally, nature is only developed after careful cost/benefit analyses, but non-marketable ecosystem-services are often left unaccounted in land-development plans, resulting in loss of these systems and services. One solution is incorporating ecosystem-services into cost/benefit analyses by putting a price-tag on these services. However, people do not accept the ensuing trade-offs, which pit sacred values (nature) against secular values (money). Such (taboo) trade-offs are morally offensive, yet they are necessary if we want to preserve ecosystems from ongoing degradation.  Moral cleansing – attempts to reaffirm one’s own moral position - is a reaction towards taboo trade-offs (i.e. in the shape of donations to charities) However, little is known about people’s behavioural response to assaults on sacred values related to the environment.  Aim: This study focuses on how trade-offs between environmental ‘sacred’ values and monetary values affect expressions of moral cleansing, namely pro-environmental behaviour in the shape of donations to an environmental charity. It investigates whether taboo trade-offs have effects on people’s environmental donations, and consequently the relative importance of trade-offs in such behaviour compared to other behaviour-influencing factors. Laboratory experiments (N=139) were conducted followed by regression analyses, and Multimodel-Inference techniques for data-analysis.  Conclusion: Participants’ decision-to-donate to an environmental charity is affected by social consciousness and taboo trade-offs. Thus taboos are a factor influencing donation behaviour.  Discussion: Results suggest that people with a non-anthropocentric worldview believe that they ought to donate more, but in reality, other factors influence the real decision-to-donate. In this study it is exposure to a taboo trade-off and social consciousness that affects the real decision-to-donate. This supports prior evidence for moral cleansing effects and expands it to environmental fields. It also shows the added use of the explorative MMI-approach in social science-topics. Societal applicability is found in improvement of CBAs, and potential usage as behaviour-change technique. However, such usage deserves more attention on practicalities, feasibility and ethics

We are all individuals : Within- and between-subject analysis of relationships between pro-environmental intentions and motivations

Motivations to engage in pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) are often investigated using psychological theories such as the Theory of Reasoned Action. Though many psychological theories propose causal mechanisms operating at the level of the individual, studies often analyse cross-sectional data on psychological constructs with between-subject analyses. This approach is sensitive to confounding effects arising from differences between individuals, as opposed to capturing within-subject mechanisms. With pooled data from two surveys, we show that analysing relationships between motivations and intentions within subjects, across behaviours, can yield divergent results when compared to analyses between subjects, within specific behaviours, or using aggregate data. Specifically, whereas between-subject analyses suggested that individuals who perceived strong social pressure had only weakly stronger PEB-intentions, a within-subject analysis revealed that individuals were more inclined to perform PEBs for which they perceived social pressure. Likewise, economic gains were only in some cases related to PEB-intentions between-subjects, but individuals were more likely to perform PEBs that produced economic gains. We elaborate on what these diverging findings imply

Good things come in small packages : is there a common set of motivators for energy behaviour?

Household energy consumption can be curbed by individuals’ energy saving, yet despite many efforts, our energy consumption is not lowering. This study investigated the role of a common set of behavioural determinants for households’ intention to perform four energy-related behaviours: investing in PV cells, turning off apparatus on standby mode, showering less, and replacing old home appliances with new energy-efficient ones. Behavioural determinants—energy awareness, general energy knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and moral norms—were assessed in a survey (N = 83) among Swedish residents. Energy awareness was moderately correlated with energy knowledge, but not with respondents’ intentions to perform the behaviours, except for replacing home appliances. Moral norms were judged by respondents as important motivators and were a strong predictor to behavioural intentions to perform all four behaviours. Attitudes likewise were assessed as important motivators and were important predictors to all behavioural intentions except investing in PV cells, which was instead predicted by perceived behavioural control. Respondents’ assessment of beliefs underlying attitudes also differed for investing in PV cells; namely, beliefs about economic benefits were lower. Moreover, respondents felt less morally responsible for investing in PV cells. Concluding, we found no evidence that intentions to engage in four energy-saving behaviours are mediated by general energy knowledge or energy awareness. Determinants to each behaviour differed, where—surprisingly—investment in PV cells stood out as less motivated both by economic incentives and moral concerns, although moral norms were shared motivators across all four behaviours. We discuss different possible interpretations of these findings

Different strokes for different folks? : Comparing pro-environmental intentions between electricity consumers and solar prosumers in Sweden

When households invest in photovoltaics, they change from being electricity consumers to solar prosumers, a change that is often implied to also positively affect other pro-environmental behaviours. This article presents a comparison between Swedish consumers and prosumers (N = 460), concerning (i) whether consumers and prosumers engage in pro-environmental behaviours for different reasons, and (ii) whether prosumers and consumers differ in their intention to engage in these behaviours and if they find the reasons for doing so differentially motivating. Early and late prosumers are moreover compared to see whether time of investment influenced the reasons to engage in pro-environmental behaviours. The data show that both consumers and prosumers engaged in pro-environmental behaviours for the same reasons: convictions that behaviours contribute to the environment and one's life-quality. Moreover, both prosumers and consumers were more inclined to engage in pro-environmental behaviour when they saw less economic gain in those behaviours. Both groups were also motivated by a perceived moral responsibility and by a high self-assessed awareness of one's electricity consumption and saving possibilities. Consumers and prosumers, however, differed in the degree to which they were compelled by these reasons: prosumers had higher confidence that pro-environmental behaviours would benefit the environment, improve their comfort and life-quality, they felt more moral responsibility to perform such behaviours and assessed their electricity awareness as higher. This study confirms and identifies systematic differences between consumers and prosumers in their pro-environmental intentions and motivations, and the differences are discussed in terms of initial self-selection and possible spill-over effects

Nudging for eco-friendly online shopping-Attraction effect curbs price sensitivity*

The current study investigates the efficiency of nudging people to purchase more eco-friendly electronic devices in an emulated online milieu. To this end, participants were presented with three different products (smart phones, monitors and portable speakers) with two different nudges (attraction and default) and a control condition. Results from two experiments show that, while there was already a strong preference to make eco-friendly choices in control conditions, when eco-friendly choices were costlier, there was a clear positive effect of an attraction nudge on participants' eco-friendly preferences. In other words, when product prices were generally high, or when there are large price differences between options, the attraction nudge resulted in a higher probability of eco-friendly choices compared to when no attraction effect is used. The default nudge was less efficient, sometimes producing a negative effect, while its effect was mediated by whether participants endorsed a strong bio-centric worldview, in which case the default nudge promoted more eco-friendly choices. The results are discussed in relation to potential challenges pertaining to deceit and perceived paternalistic intentions with use of nudges

Evaluating demand charges as instruments for managing peak-demand

Reducing peak demand in distribution grids is associated with benefits such as delayed infrastructural investments, decreased losses and a reduced risk of power deficits. One instrument aimed at reducing peak demand is the demand charge, a capacity-based component in a network tariff that intends to encourage users to reduce their peak usage. Using ten years of data from a Swedish distribution network, this study demonstrates that demand charges may be unsuitable for managing the problems they are intended to address. Two critical misalignments in the design of these demand charges are identified: 1) Demand charges are most commonly based on maximum billing demand – a given user's maximum monthly peak – whereas the problem of peak demand overwhelmingly concerns maximum system peaks in the distribution grid as a whole. The lack of coincidence between these peaks suggest that demand charges are, by design, ineffective for reducing peak demand. 2) The peaks which determine a distribution system's maximum capacity requirements are rare, seasonal and largely temperature-driven events, whereas demand charges mainly target users' habitual daily patterns, encouraging daily shifts from peak to off-peak hours. As long as the main driver of network costs, maximum system peaks, are absent in their design, demand charges will neither reflect the costs that users impose on the grid nor provide them with the correct price signals on how to best act