{"title":"When do individuals take action to protect the environment?——Exploring the mediating effects of negative impacts of environmental risk","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102472","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental risks can result in varying degrees of negative impacts, which can be categorized into micro-level individual impacts and macro-level social and ecological impacts. While extensive research has shown that individuals take actions to protect the environment in the face of environmental risks, the mechanisms underlying this behavior have received insufficient attention, particularly regarding the negative impacts stemming directly from environmental conditions. This study aims to examine the discrepancies in pro-environmental awareness and behavior in response to adverse consequences of diverse environmental risks from a risk management perspective. Utilizing data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), we classified the negative impacts of environmental risks into two categories: individual and community levels. We investigated which specific negative impacts motivate individuals to develop environmental awareness and engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Our findings reveal that individuals are more likely to take action when faced with immediate and urgent individual-level negative impacts. Conversely, they are less inclined to act in response to long-term and seemingly minor community-level environmental risks. These insights enhance our understanding of the psychological mechanisms linking environmental risks to pro-environmental behaviors and underscore the importance of addressing negative impacts that may not appear serious in the present.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424002457","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Environmental risks can result in varying degrees of negative impacts, which can be categorized into micro-level individual impacts and macro-level social and ecological impacts. While extensive research has shown that individuals take actions to protect the environment in the face of environmental risks, the mechanisms underlying this behavior have received insufficient attention, particularly regarding the negative impacts stemming directly from environmental conditions. This study aims to examine the discrepancies in pro-environmental awareness and behavior in response to adverse consequences of diverse environmental risks from a risk management perspective. Utilizing data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), we classified the negative impacts of environmental risks into two categories: individual and community levels. We investigated which specific negative impacts motivate individuals to develop environmental awareness and engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Our findings reveal that individuals are more likely to take action when faced with immediate and urgent individual-level negative impacts. Conversely, they are less inclined to act in response to long-term and seemingly minor community-level environmental risks. These insights enhance our understanding of the psychological mechanisms linking environmental risks to pro-environmental behaviors and underscore the importance of addressing negative impacts that may not appear serious in the present.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Environmental Psychology is the premier journal in the field, serving individuals in a wide range of disciplines who have an interest in the scientific study of the transactions and interrelationships between people and their surroundings (including built, social, natural and virtual environments, the use and abuse of nature and natural resources, and sustainability-related behavior). The journal publishes internationally contributed empirical studies and reviews of research on these topics that advance new insights. As an important forum for the field, the journal publishes some of the most influential papers in the discipline that reflect the scientific development of environmental psychology. Contributions on theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of all human-environment interactions are welcome, along with innovative or interdisciplinary approaches that have a psychological emphasis. Research areas include: •Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature •Cognitive mapping, spatial cognition and wayfinding •Ecological consequences of human actions •Theories of place, place attachment, and place identity •Environmental risks and hazards: perception, behavior, and management •Perception and evaluation of buildings and natural landscapes •Effects of physical and natural settings on human cognition and health •Theories of proenvironmental behavior, norms, attitudes, and personality •Psychology of sustainability and climate change •Psychological aspects of resource management and crises •Social use of space: crowding, privacy, territoriality, personal space •Design of, and experiences related to, the physical aspects of workplaces, schools, residences, public buildings and public space