Environmental values, beliefs, and actions - A situational approach

This study investigated the influence of the interaction between personal a nd situational variables in environmental behavior and the predictive power of values and beliefs. Three different kinds of questions (environmental b eliefs, Schwartz's measure of values, and physical-environmental inhibition level) and 1 item of general environmental concern were presented, along w ith a 16-item list of environmental actions, to 125 randomly selected under graduate students. The results permit two main conclusions. First, environm ental behavior depends on personal and situational variables in an interact ive way. Second, when high conflict level is generated between personal dis positions and situational conditions, the predictive power of attitudes ten ds to be minimal, whereas in the case of consistency between them it tends to be maximal. The influence of situational variables was found to depend o n the environmental action considered. In some cases, situational variables were the most important, whereas in others, commitment or moral obligation played an essential role.