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Emphasizing the co-benefits of climate policy can motivate action across ideological, age and gender divides regardless of existing levels of concern about climate change, as global survey data shows. Personal and political action on climate change is traditionally thought to be motivated by people accepting its reality and importance. However, convincing the public that climate change is real faces powerful ideological obstacles 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , and climate change is slipping in public importance in many countries 5 , 6 . Here we investigate a different approach, identifying whether potential co-benefits of addressing climate change 7 could motivate pro-environmental behaviour around the world for both those convinced and unconvinced that climate change is real. We describe an integrated framework for assessing beliefs about co-benefits 8 , distinguishing social conditions (for example, economic development, reduced pollution or disease) and community character (for example, benevolence, competence). Data from all inhabited continents (24 countries; 6,196 participants) showed that two co-benefit types, Development (economic and scientific advancement) and Benevolence (a more moral and caring community), motivated public, private and financial actions to address climate change to a similar degree as believing climate change is important. Critically, relationships were similar for both convinced and unconvinced participants, showing that co-benefits can motivate action across ideological divides. These relationships were also independent of perceived climate change importance, and could not be explained by political ideology, age, or gender. Communicating co-benefits could motivate action on climate change where traditional approaches have stalled.

Despite a long tradition of effectiveness in laboratory tests, normative messages have had mixed success in changing behavior infield contexts, with some studies showing boomerang effects. To test a theoretical account of this inconsistency, we conducted a field experiment in which normative messages were used to promote household energy conservation. As predicted, a descriptive normative message detailing average neighborhood usage produced either desirable energy savings or the undesirable boomerang effect, depending on whether households were already consuming at a low or high rate. Also as predicted, adding an injunctive message (conveying social approval or disapproval) eliminated the boomerang effect. The results offer an explanation for the mixed success of persuasive appeals based on social norms and suggest how such appeals should be properly crafted.

From a social psychological perspective, addressing the threats of climate change involves not only education, which imparts objective facts upon a passive individual, but also a socializing process. The Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influence (TIMSI) provides a theoretical framework that connects acquiring climate change knowledge with integration into a community, which results in greater engagement in climate friendly behaviors. Survey data were collected from 1000 residents in San Diego County. Measures included (a) knowledge about climate change; (b) self-efficacy , what pro-environmental actions they felt they could do; (c) identity , to what extent they identified as part of a community that is concerned about climate change; (d) values , endorsement of values of the community that is concerned about climate change; and (e) pro-environmental behavior , engagement in conservation behaviors. Results indicated that self-efficacy and values mediated the relationship between knowledge and pro-environmental behavior.

Prior research has explored the relationship between values, attitudes about environmental issues, and pro-environmental behavior. These studies have shown a consistent pattern of results — individuals who value self-transcendent life goals tend to care more about environmental problems, favor environmental protection over economic growth, and engage in more proenvironmental behavior. In contrast, individuals who value self-enhancing life goals tend to hold more egoistic concerns about environmental issues, tend to favor economic growth over environmental protection, and tend to engage in fewer environmental behaviors. Research on American values suggests that overall, people in the U.S. tend to hold strong self-enhancing values. These self-enhancing values have largely been considered incongruous with the values that lead to environmental concern and to environmental behavior. In this paper, we synthesize the past research on the relationship between values and environmental behavior. Lessons from the Biodiversity Project are used to illustrate efforts to create effective value-based environmental messages.

The authors examined environmental attitudes among foreign-born Latino Americans and differences in these attitudes associated with acculturation. Data were collected from Spanish-speaking students (N = 153) enrolled in 3 levels of English as a second language (ESL) courses and from English-speaking students (N = 39) enrolled in a Spanish as a second language course. Measures included the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale, a 4-item acculturation scale, ESL course level, and demographics. Acculturation was negatively related to scores on the NEP scale, and Spanish-speaking students in lower level ESL courses scored higher on the NEP than students in higher level courses. These effects remained significant even when income and education were used as covariates. These findings suggest that culture is an important determinant of environmental attitudes.

Two studies of authoritarianism and environmental attitudes were under-taken. The first, a field study, found the opponents of a proposed riverside power plant to be less authoritarian and more environmentally concerned than supporters of the plants establishment. Overall, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) correlated -.51 with environmental concern. The second study replicated this finding within a college sample, using a validated measure of environmental concern, the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale. NEP correlated -.54 with RWA. It is concluded that the relationship between authoritarianism and environmental concern is presently strong. Prospective explanations for this relationship revolve around the theoretical nature of authoritarianism.

Empirical knowledge about recycling behavior is needed to inform environmental education efforts and policy proposals. Three dimensions of household recycling behavior (frequency of participation, amount of recyclable materials, and contamination of recyclables by improper material) were observed in 705 households of a suburban residential community over an 8-week period. These dependent variables were predicted by a set of 10 independent variables: recycling knowledge, general environmental concern, community attachment, 3 demographic variables, and 4 specific recycling motivation factors. A different pattern of predictor variables was found for each of the dependent variables, and the results suggest that many of the variables that predicted recycling behavior in past research have weaker relationships in current, more convenient, curbside programs.

Various aspects related to community-based social marketing (CBSM) were investigated. The most widely used approach to changing was the information campaign. The campaigns distributed information to educate the community about a particular problem or behavior. The greatest limitation of awareness campaigns was that they tended to focus on the high percentage of people who did the wrong thing, or the very small percentage that did the right thing. It was essential to choose a behavior that was linked with the desired outcome. The results indicated that focusing on a single behavior was much more likely to result in behavior change compared to providing laundry lists of things to do. It was concluded that the CBSM approach was used successfully to change a wide range of environmentally responsible behaviors.