| Description |
Theoretical and conceptual accounts of environmental concern have traditionally followed two approaches: concern as attitudes, or evaluations of environment-related problems and behaviors, and concern as values or objects of import to the individual, threatened by negative environmental conditions. Each approach has laid foundational knowledge and guidance for studying how environmental concern is implicated in proenvironmental behaviors, though an integrated framework that clearly specifies the psychological mechanisms comprising concern has been largely absent. In the current paper, a new conceptual model of environmental concern is proposed, premised on the idea that concern for environmental problems can be organized around two understudied psychological dimensions: the degree of perceived threat associated with the issue, and the degree of desired change (motivation) exhibited for effecting behavioral action. Using a survey-based methodology, cross-sectional data (N = 455) were collected for three environmental issues: air pollution, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling procedures confirmed the validity of the proposed model, while also revealing the unique and interactive effects that perceived threat and desired change have on proenvironmental intentions, and in turn, effects on self-reported behavior. These relationships appeared to be moderated by personal relevance and self-appraised knowledge for the issues. The ability of the conceptual model to predict proenvironmental intentions was also explored in the context of integrated models incorporating Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs. The relative impact of the conceptual model dimensions and the TPB constructs varied with the particular environmental issue studied, highlighting the diversity of multiple predictors for explaining intentions and behavior. Implications of this research, as well as future directions, are discussed. |
