Promoting Spillover: How Past Behaviors Increase Environmental Intentions by Cueing Self-Perceptions

Abstract

Behavioral spillover theory has potential for promoting meaningful behavior change. Spillover occurs when engagement in environmental behaviors affects the adoption of other environmental behaviors. By testing a new experimental model of spillover, this article is the first to concurrently investigate three predicted mechanisms of spillover—self-identity, self-efficacy, and contribution ethic—on different types of environmental behavior. The experimental spillover model examined how triggering self-perceptions (i.e., self-identity, self-efficacy, and contribution ethic) may influence the likelihood of spillover to occur from engagement in household behaviors to intentions for other environmental behaviors. Triggering self-identity was associated with increased private- and public-sphere intentions. Contrary to expectations, contribution ethic was not associated with decreased intentions, and instead was associated with increased public-sphere intentions. Self-efficacy did not uniquely influence intentions. These findings demonstrate that everyday behaviors can provide an “entry point” for other behaviors, strengthening self-perceptions and generating positive spillover.

Behavioral prediction of environmentally oriented anticonsumption and consumption: A multilevel study of five Eurobarometer surveys

“…There is evidence that, for some people, environmental friendliness stretches across all (or most) facets of behavior, whereas other people restrict their environmental efforts to specific (easier or especially relevant) action domains (Iyer & Muncy, ; Onel et al, ). In line with self‐perception theory, inter‐domain spillovers among EOA actions are likely to depend on personal characteristics (e.g., an environmental self‐identity) that transcend specific behavioral domains (Lauren et al, )—and that fall beyond the scope of this study. In line with past studies, behavioral frequency helped explain the behavioral associations among climate change oriented actions, particularly among non‐daily ones (Whitmarsh & O'Neill, ).…”

“…Some authors suggest that behaving in environmentally friendly way in a specific setting will increase perceived self‐efficacy, which, in line with learning theories, would induce further environmental behavior in other settings (Nash et al, ). However, the accumulated evidence to date often conflicts with this claim (Lauren, Smith, Louis, & Dean, ). Other theories hint that intra‐setting environmental behaviors are more likely to be perceived as congruent (Kneebone et al, ), thus enhancing the likelihood for positive spillovers.…”

“…Yet, the behavioral setting by itself is not enough of an explanation for environmental spillovers; certainly, these depend on other factors such as resources needed for action (Littleford et al, ). People's environmental self‐identity appears to be major contributor to inter‐setting positive spillovers (Lauren et al, ), while context‐relevant identities of individuals may also come at play (Whitmarsh & O'Neill, ).…”

“…Environmental behaviors can also be classified attending to their level of (perceived) difficulty. Some of the “easiest” or frequent environmental actions (e.g., turning off the tap, recycling) have become normative behaviors for many citizens—that is, regardless of their environmental impact (Lauren et al, ). Hence, “more difficult” environmental actions have been suggested as more diagnostic of proenvironmental personalities (Thøgersen, ).…”

The Volatility of Collective Action: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Data

“…A second consideration regarding the impact of multiple identities arises from a broader point about the psychology of consistency and inconsistency: For a behavior to "spill over" or generalize to other contexts, the behavior must become cognitively linked to the self and not to a singular context that compartmentalizes it (Amiot, Doucerain, & Louis, 2017;Amiot, Louis, Bourdeau, & Maalouf, 2017; see also Lauren, Fielding, Smith, & Louis, 2016;Lauren, Smith, Louis, & Dean, 2019). When an individual's action is compartmentalized, an individual is led to engage in an action not because of "who they really are" but instead because of a specific situation or environment.…”