Pro-Environmental Behavior Research: Theoretical Progress and Future Directions

Abstract

Realistic environmental problems drive the growth of pro-environment behavior research, among which the most important progress is about the theoretical innovation and development of pro-environmental behavior. Thus, the main purpose of this paper was to review the literature and help researchers to understand the theoretical progress of pro-environmental behavior. This study systematically analyzed 1806 papers published in SCI-EXPANDED and SSCI databases. It presented the research overview of pro-environmental behavior in terms of status of literature publication, research hotspots and topics. On this basis, this paper further focused on key theoretical papers and summarized three paths of theoretical progress for pro-environmental behavior: theoretical development, theoretical exploration and theoretical integration. Along the theoretical development path, studies mainly apply theories of psychology, sociology and economics to analyze and explain the formation and consequences of pro-environmental behavior. In terms of theoretical exploration, existing studies propose and develop value-belief-norm theory, behavioral theories related to contexts and pro-environmental behavior decision models. Theoretical integration is the direction of future research, such as the combination of rationality and sensibility, and the combination of external and internal causes. Therefore, this paper summarized the theoretical progress of pro-environmental behavior and proposed future research directions, which contribute to its theoretical development.

The effect of COVID-19 risk perception on pro-environmental behavior of Chinese consumers: Perspectives from affective event theory

“…Second, an increasing number of scholars argue that cognitive and affective factors should be integrated into a unified rational and emotional theory of environmental behavior to better explain individuals’ pro-environmental behavior ( Tian and Liu, 2022 ). Unfortunately, a limited number of studies have explored the interaction between emotional and cognitive factors.…”

Are happier adolescents more willing to protect the environment? Empirical evidence from Programme for International Student Assessment 2018

“…The Theory of Planned Behavior ( Ajzen, 1991 ), the Norm-Activation-Theory ( Schwartz and Howard, 1981 ), and the Value-Belief-Norm-Theory ( Stern, 2000 ), the most commonly used theories in the field of environmental psychology, provide great insight into the prediction of intention on environmental behavior ( Klöckner, 2013 ). However, it has been argued that these models ignore the potential influence of emotions on behaviors ( Kim et al, 2013 ; Han et al, 2017 ; Tian and Liu, 2022 ). Recently, an emerging school of thought has explored the impact of subjective wellbeing (SWB) on PEBs from a positive psychology perspective ( Sulemana, 2016 ; Wang and Kang, 2019 ; Kushlev et al, 2021 ; Nguyen et al, 2022 ; Ouyang et al, 2022 ).…”

“…As the positive emotion, SWB is a great predicator for PEBs. Adolescents’ SWB can improve PEBs through their increased sense of self-efficacy, providing new evidence for the role of positive emotions in Environmental psychology ( Kim et al, 2013 ; Klöckner, 2013 ; Han et al, 2017 ; Tian and Liu, 2022 ). Thirdly, our research further reveals the mechanism of SWB’s influence on PEBs.…”

Identifying Factors Affecting Intention to Support Pro-Environmental Crowdfunding Campaigns: Mediating and Moderating Effects

“…This point emphasises the significance of pro-environmental behaviour (PEB), which encompasses all actions that aim to minimise or reduce an individual’s harmful environmental impact (Stern et al, 1999; Tian & Liu, 2022). Stern et al (1999) distinguished among three types of PEB: green purchase, environmental citizenship behaviour, and activist behaviour.…”