Envy and Environmental Decision Making: The Mediating Role of Self-Control

Emotions have strong impacts on decision making, yet research on the association between social interpersonal emotion and environmental decisions is limited. The present study uses experimental manipulation and cross-sectional investigation to examine how envy state and personality trait envy influence environmental actions. In Study 1, participants were manipulated to elicit benign and malicious envy, and it was found that benign envy acts as an antecedent of pro-environmental behavior, while malicious envy could contribute to behavior harmful to the environment. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and examined the mediator of self-control through a correlational study. Consequently, people who are high in malicious envy tend to engage in more environmentally harmful activities rather than living a sustainable life, while dispositional benign envy could significantly predict pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, the link between dispositional malicious envy and environmental behavior can be explained by trait self-control, while the mediating effect was silent in dispositional benign envy. The findings shed new light on the impact of social interpersonal emotion on making environmental decisions and its related psychological mechanisms.

Relations among Pro-Environmental Behavior, Environmental Knowledge, Environmental Perception, and Post-Materialistic Values in China

During the economic boom, China’s government was mainly concerned with economic development; however, numerous environmental problems have arisen. Evidence suggests that Chinese individuals’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is at a low level in Asia. However, it does not match their high-quality environmental knowledge. In this paper, the database of the Chinese General Social Survey was used to explore the correlation between environmental knowledge and PEB in a broader context. Subsequently, environmental perception and post-materialistic values (PMV) were taken as the mediator and moderator into structural equation modeling, and every variable kept robust and consistent through exploratory factor analysis. The empirical results indicated that: (i) individuals with higher environmental knowledge always show higher passion to PEB; (ii) environmental perception plays a partially mediating role between environmental knowledge and PEB; (iii) PMV moderate the formation of environmental behavior systematically; and (iv) compared with public counterpart, the relation between environmental knowledge and PEB is significantly higher in private environmental behavior. The study results could become the basis for the Chinese government and environmental NGOs to effectively spread environmental knowledge, advocate a post-materialistic lifestyle, and improve the authenticity of online media reports on environmental issues.

Climate Change Outcomes on the Environmental Ecotoxicology

Climate change is a daunting problem and has only recently attracted attention. This chapter presents a review on the implications of climate change on the regulation, and modelling of toxic pollutants. Also, it identifies relationships between climate fluctuations and changes in some polluants distribution (heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and pesticides). Moreover, the influence of climate change on polluant environmental behavior is explored by studying polluants response to inter-annual climate fluctuations such as precipitation and temperature. Therefore, it will be important to monitor strategies taking into account climate change and new regulatory plans should be devised in toxics polluant management.

Does Environmental Knowledge Matter? Social Influence and Pro-Environmental Behavior in University Students: An Indirect Effect Model

Purpose- This study aims to provide an analytical framework that focuses on environmental knowledge as a mechanism through which social influence enhances pro-environmental behavior among university students. Design/Methodology- The research employed quantitative strategy, cross-sectional survey design, and systematic random sampling techniques to obtain data from a sample of 335 university students using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The study hypotheses were tested using Hayes Process Macro vs. 3.5 (Model 4). Findings- Results indicate that social influence strongly impacts students’ environmental knowledge, and both variables significantly predict pro-environmental behavior. Environmental knowledge was discovered to be the strongest predictor of pro-environmental behavior among students. Finally, results show that environmental knowledge mediates the relationship between social influence and pro-environmental behavior, revealing a complimentary mediation model superior to the direct effect model. Originality- These findings reveal that social influence and students’ environmental knowledge have a strong influence in cultivating students’ pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, the complementary mediation model, which shows superior results than the direct effect model, contributes to the body of knowledge and offers new insights into theory and practice. Practical Implications- Environmental sustainability may be positioned as a social trend by government and business agencies, such as a promotional campaign, workshops, and training to demonstrate and raise awareness about environmental issues.

Responsible Consumer Behavior: Driving Factors of Pro-Environmental Behavior toward Post-Consumption Plastic Packaging

This quantitative investigation aims to test the model of responsible consumption behavior (RCB). The specific purpose is to examine the relationship of pro-environmental behavior, attitudes, norms, intention, and awareness using the theory of planned behavior as an underlying theoretical framework. A multistage sampling technique was used to select people (n = 665). Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from sample respondents. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM)–partial least square (PLS). The findings revealed that attitudes, norms, and awareness all have a role in predicting the intention to engage in post-consumer plastic packaging activity. This finding supports the theory of planned behavior, and it can be extended to explain environmental behavior by adding a reasonable variable.

Role of Knowledge, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavior Control, and Attitudes in Predict Pro-Environmental Behavior

Background: One of the public universities as the green campus that prioritizes reforestation to overcome environmental issues. All stakeholders including students are expected to behave pro-environmentally. This study aimed to explain whether or not there is an influence of knowledge, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and attitude towards pro-environmental behavior (plastic waste) for university students. Methods: This research was conducted under a quantitative approach with 5 valid and reliable variables. In addition, regression tests and structural equation models are used. The respondents of this study were 399 university students from all faculties of Hasanuddin University. Results: Perceived Behavior Control has the greatest effect on pro-environmental behavior compared to other variables. However, environmental knowledge has the smallest effect on subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and attitude. Conclusion: All variables affect predict pro-environmental behavior.