| Title |
Environmental Behavior’s Dirty Secret: The Prevalence of Waste Management in Discussions of Environmental Concern and Action
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Environmental Management, May 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00267-016-0710-6 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Rachelle K. Gould, Nicole M. Ardoin, Matt Biggar, Amanda E. Cravens, Deb Wojcik |
| Abstract |
Humankind and the planet face many thorny environmentally related challenges that require a range of responses, including changing behaviors related to transportation, eating habits, purchasing, and myriad other aspects of life. Using data from a 1201-person survey and 14 Community Listening Sessions (CLSs), we explore people's perceptions of and actions taken to protect the environment. Our data indicate a striking prevalence of waste management-related actions. Survey respondents described actions and concerns related to trash, recycling, and composting as the most common environmental behaviors; similarly, participants in CLSs discussed waste-related topics, for which we did not prompt, as frequently as those topics for which we specifically prompted. Explanations for this prevalence emerging from the data include (1) the nature of waste-related behaviors (concrete, supported by infrastructure, simple, compatible with lifestyle); (2) norms and social dynamics (family interactions, feelings of belonging/participation, government policy); and (3) internal psychological processes (internalized norms and environmental concern). We also found that many waste-related discussions were relatively superficial, focusing on immediate waste-related issues (e.g., litter or recycling) rather than larger issues such as consumption. Our results may provide insight into future efforts to encourage pro-environmental behavior. Given that most pro-environmental behavior involves tasks more complex and lifestyle-changing than those related to simple aspects of waste management, we suggest focusing on the latter two intertwined categories that our data suggest are important: encouraging social dynamics and related development of norms concerning environmental behavior (category 2), and fostering internalized norms and environmental concern (category 3). |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 148 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 148 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 29 | 20% |
| Student > Master | 25 | 17% |
| Researcher | 16 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 15 | 10% |
| Other | 12 | 8% |
| Other | 20 | 14% |
| Unknown | 31 | 21% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 26 | 18% |
| Psychology | 23 | 16% |
| Environmental Science | 15 | 10% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 12 | 8% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 9 | 6% |
| Other | 27 | 18% |
| Unknown | 36 | 24% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 July 2016.
All research outputs
#17,286,379
of 25,374,647 outputs
Outputs from Environmental Management
#1,476
of 1,914 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#224,826
of 353,034 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Environmental Management
#15
of 23 outputs
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