The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Linda Steg - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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when worry about climate change leads to climate action how values worry and personal responsibility relate to various climate actions
Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions, 2020Co-Authors: Thijs Bouman, Mark Verschoor, Casper J Albers, Gisela Bohm, Stephen D Fisher, Wouter Poortinga, Lorraine Whitmarsh, Linda StegAbstract:The IPCC's report on Global Warming of 1.5°C positioned climate change as one of the most worrying issues mankind has ever faced. Although many people worry about climate change, there is still much unknown about the origins and outcomes of worry about climate change; particularly, whether and how it can motivate specific and personal climate actions. The current paper investigates this critical relationship with data from the European Social Survey Round 8 (44,387 respondents from 23 countries). As expected, the more individuals worried about climate change, the more likely they were to take and support climate action. Yet, the process through which this association occurred differed between actions. Specifically, worry was both directly and indirectly, via feelings of personal responsibility to reduce climate change, associated with climate policy support; whereas worry was mostly indirectly associated with personal climate mitigation behaviours, via personal responsibility. In addition, worry about climate change appears partly rooted in biospheric values (i.e., caring about nature and the environment), and biospheric values were also clearly, directly and positively related to personal climate mitigation behaviours. The relationships were highly consistent across countries but varied somewhat in size. The results show how generic feelings about climate change can directly and indirectly affect both climate policy support and personal climate mitigation behaviours, thereby providing critical insights for science and policy making.
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the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility employees biospheric values and pro environmental behaviour at work
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2017Co-Authors: Angela Ruepert, Kees Keizer, Linda StegAbstract:Abstract Many organizations strive for Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER). This can make organizational processes and procedures more pro-environmental, but does it also promote employees’ pro-environmental behaviour? We reason that CER can encourage employees to act pro-environmentally at work by increasing the likelihood that they consider the environmental consequences of their behaviour. In two studies, we test to what extent CER affects pro-environmental behaviour at work, and whether this depends on the extent to which employees value nature and the environment (i.e., endorse biospheric values). Both studies show that stronger biospheric values and perceived CER are related to more self-reported pro-environmental behaviour at work. Interestingly, the relationship between perceived CER and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour was stronger among those with moderate to weak biospheric values. These results suggest that relative weak biospheric values are less likely to inhibit pro-environmental behaviour at work when employees believe that their organization aims to realize CER.
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values norms and intrinsic motivation to act proenvironmentally
Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2016Co-Authors: Linda StegAbstract:Environmental problems can be reduced if people more consistently engage in proenvironmental actions. In this article, I discuss factors that motivate or inhibit individuals to act proenvironmentally. Many people are intrinsically motivated to engage in proenvironmental actions, because protecting the environment makes them feel good about themselves. People are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to act proenvironmentally over and again when they strongly endorse biospheric values. However, people may be less likely to act on their biospheric values when these values are not supported by the context, or when competing values are activated by factors in a choice context. Next, I discuss strategies to encourage proenvironmental actions by strengthening biospheric values, or by empowering and motivating people to act on their biospheric values. Moreover, I discuss factors influencing the acceptability of environmental policies that aim to encourage proenvironmental behavior.
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environmental considerations in the organizational context a pathway to pro environmental behaviour at work
Energy research and social science, 2016Co-Authors: Angela Ruepert, Linda Steg, Kees Keizer, Fridanna Maricchiolo, Giuseppe Carrus, Adina Dumitru, Ricardo Garcia Mira, Alexandra Stancu, Daniela MozaAbstract:Abstract Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour at work can result in a significant reduction in environmental problems. Research revealed that general environmental considerations such as biospheric values and environmental self-identity are important antecedents of private pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, the question remains whether such general environmental considerations also predict pro-environmental behaviour at work. We propose a parsimonious theoretical model (the VIP-model) in which biospheric values affect personal norms to behave pro-environmentally at work and pro-environmental actions via the environmental self-identity. A study involving a diverse sample of employees from different European organizations supported the VIP-model, showing that biospheric values and environmental self-identity influence personal norms, and that stronger personal norms encouraged various self-reported pro-environmental behaviours at work to some extent. The VIP-model yields promising, cost-efficient strategies to encourage pro-environmental behaviour at work.
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i am what i am by looking past the present the influence of biospheric values and past behavior on environmental self identity
Environment and Behavior, 2014Co-Authors: Ellen Van Der Werff, Linda Steg, Kees KeizerAbstract:A strong environmental self-identity increases the likelihood of a wide range of proenvironmental actions. But which factors influence identity and can we strengthen it? We propose that the environmental self-identity depends on biospheric values and on past behavior and that the strength of one’s environmental self-identity can be changed somewhat by reminding people of their past environmental behavior. We tested our model in a series of studies and show that biospheric values and past environmental behavior influence the environmental self-identity, which is in turn related to subsequent environmental judgments and intentions. Furthermore, we found that although the strength of the environmental self-identity changed when we reminded people of their past environmental actions, biospheric values remained an important predictor of self-identity, suggesting that the environmental self-identity has a stable core. Our results further suggest that environmental-friendly behavior can be promoted by reminding people of their past proenvironmental actions as this will strengthen one’s environmental self-identity.
Judith I M De Groot - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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green consumerism the influence of product attributes and values on purchasing intentions
Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 2015Co-Authors: Geertje Schuitema, Judith I M De GrootAbstract:Generally, a majority of consumers support the idea of purchasing green products. However, this is often not translated into actual behaviour. We argue that there is a trade-off between the influence of product attributes on purchasing decisions, whereby it is assumed that consumers tend to focus on egoistic product attributes first, followed by green product attributes. In two experimental studies (N = 100 and N = 107), we find support for this reasoning: If product attributes fulfil self-serving motives (low price, familiar or well-known brand), green product attributes (cruelty free and low environmental impact) influence purchasing intentions more than when self-serving motives are not fulfilled (high price, unfamiliar or unknown brand). Further, we investigated if and how values weaken or strengthen the influence of product attributes on purchasing intentions. We conclude that biospheric values steer how product attributes influence purchasing intentions stronger than egoistic values. In line with our expectations, we find that if biospheric values are weak, egoistic product attributes are more influential, whereas if biopheric values are strong, green product attributes are more influential. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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values perceived risks and benefits and acceptability of nuclear energy
Risk Analysis, 2013Co-Authors: Judith I M De Groot, Linda Steg, Wouter PoortingaAbstract:We examined how personal values and perceptions of risks and benefits are associated with the acceptability of nuclear energy (NE). A theoretical model is tested in which beliefs about the risks and benefits of NE mediate the relationship between values and acceptability. The results showed that egoistic values are positively related to the perceived benefits and acceptability of NE. In contrast, altruistic and biospheric values were positively related to the perceived risks of NE. Although it has been argued that NE may help to combat climate change through lower CO2 emissions, these environmental benefits were not acknowledged by people with strong biospheric values. Furthermore, results confirmed that the more risks respondents perceived, the less they were inclined to accept NE. In contrast, the more a person believed that NE has beneficial consequences, the more acceptable NE was. Finally, as expected, perceived risks and benefits were found to partly mediate the relationship between personal values and acceptability. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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general antecedents of personal norms policy acceptability and intentions the role of values worldviews and environmental concern
Society & Natural Resources, 2011Co-Authors: Linda Steg, Judith I M De Groot, Lieke Dreijerink, Wokje Abrahamse, F W SieroAbstract:Results of two studies are reported, in which we compare the predictive power of three general behavioral antecedents (i.e., values, worldviews, and environmental concern) in explaining personal norms, behavioral intentions (i.e., environmental activism), and acceptability of energy policies. Values—especially biospheric—appeared to be more powerful in explaining personal norms, intentions, and policy acceptability than were worldviews and environmental concern, although these differences were in some cases not statistically significant.
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relationships between value orientations self determined motivational types and pro environmental behavioural intentions
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2010Co-Authors: Judith I M De Groot, Linda StegAbstract:We examined the predictive power of egoistic, altruistic and biospheric value orientations and six types of self-determined motivations (i.e. intrinsic motivation, integrated regulation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, external regulation, and amotivation) toward acting pro-environmentally for explaining two types of pro-environmental intentions in two questionnaire studies among student samples (N ¼ 304 and N ¼ 520). The two pro-environmental intentional measures included choosing a car based on environmental performance and donating to an environmental organisation. Values were more predictive of pro-environmental intentions than were self-determined motivational types, although these differences were not always statistically significant. Furthermore, we explored how value orientations are related to self-determined motivational types. The more respondents were altruistically and biospherically oriented, the more they were self-determined to act pro-environmentally. When respondents endorsed egoistic values, they were less self-determined towards acting in a pro-environmental way. When altruistic and especially biospheric values were important predictors of pro-environmental intentions, stronger types of self-determined motivations were also important to explain intentions. And, when egoistic values contributed uniquely to the explanation of pro-environmental intentions, amotivation and external regulation (i.e. less self-determined motivational types) were most relevant for explaining intentions.
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value orientations to explain beliefs related to environmental significant behavior how to measure egoistic altruistic and biospheric value orientations
Environment and Behavior, 2008Co-Authors: Judith I M De Groot, Linda StegAbstract:In environmental literature it is argued that three different value orientations may be relevant for understanding environmental beliefs and intentions: egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric. Until now, the distinction between altruistic and biospheric value orientations has hardly been supported empirically. In this article, three studies are reported aimed to examine whether an egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric value orientation can indeed be distinguished empirically by using an adapted value instrument. Also, it is examined whether these value orientations are differently and uniquely related to general and specific beliefs and behavioral intention. Results provide support for the reliability and validity of the value instrument. All studies replicated the distinction into three value orientations, with sufficient internal consistency. Furthermore, when altruistic and biospheric goals conflict, they seem to provide a distinct basis for proenvironmental intentions. The value instrument could therefor...
Kees Keizer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility employees biospheric values and pro environmental behaviour at work
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2017Co-Authors: Angela Ruepert, Kees Keizer, Linda StegAbstract:Abstract Many organizations strive for Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER). This can make organizational processes and procedures more pro-environmental, but does it also promote employees’ pro-environmental behaviour? We reason that CER can encourage employees to act pro-environmentally at work by increasing the likelihood that they consider the environmental consequences of their behaviour. In two studies, we test to what extent CER affects pro-environmental behaviour at work, and whether this depends on the extent to which employees value nature and the environment (i.e., endorse biospheric values). Both studies show that stronger biospheric values and perceived CER are related to more self-reported pro-environmental behaviour at work. Interestingly, the relationship between perceived CER and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour was stronger among those with moderate to weak biospheric values. These results suggest that relative weak biospheric values are less likely to inhibit pro-environmental behaviour at work when employees believe that their organization aims to realize CER.
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environmental considerations in the organizational context a pathway to pro environmental behaviour at work
Energy research and social science, 2016Co-Authors: Angela Ruepert, Linda Steg, Kees Keizer, Fridanna Maricchiolo, Giuseppe Carrus, Adina Dumitru, Ricardo Garcia Mira, Alexandra Stancu, Daniela MozaAbstract:Abstract Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour at work can result in a significant reduction in environmental problems. Research revealed that general environmental considerations such as biospheric values and environmental self-identity are important antecedents of private pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, the question remains whether such general environmental considerations also predict pro-environmental behaviour at work. We propose a parsimonious theoretical model (the VIP-model) in which biospheric values affect personal norms to behave pro-environmentally at work and pro-environmental actions via the environmental self-identity. A study involving a diverse sample of employees from different European organizations supported the VIP-model, showing that biospheric values and environmental self-identity influence personal norms, and that stronger personal norms encouraged various self-reported pro-environmental behaviours at work to some extent. The VIP-model yields promising, cost-efficient strategies to encourage pro-environmental behaviour at work.
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i am what i am by looking past the present the influence of biospheric values and past behavior on environmental self identity
Environment and Behavior, 2014Co-Authors: Ellen Van Der Werff, Linda Steg, Kees KeizerAbstract:A strong environmental self-identity increases the likelihood of a wide range of proenvironmental actions. But which factors influence identity and can we strengthen it? We propose that the environmental self-identity depends on biospheric values and on past behavior and that the strength of one’s environmental self-identity can be changed somewhat by reminding people of their past environmental behavior. We tested our model in a series of studies and show that biospheric values and past environmental behavior influence the environmental self-identity, which is in turn related to subsequent environmental judgments and intentions. Furthermore, we found that although the strength of the environmental self-identity changed when we reminded people of their past environmental actions, biospheric values remained an important predictor of self-identity, suggesting that the environmental self-identity has a stable core. Our results further suggest that environmental-friendly behavior can be promoted by reminding people of their past proenvironmental actions as this will strengthen one’s environmental self-identity.
Valier Galy - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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erosion of organic carbon in the arctic as a geological carbon dioxide sink
Nature, 2015Co-Authors: Robert G Hilton, Valier Galy, Julien Bouchez, Jerome Gaillardet, Mathieu Dellinger, Charlotte Bryant, Matt Oregan, Darren R Grocke, H K Coxall, Damien CalmelsAbstract:Soils of the northern high latitudes store carbon over millennial timescales (thousands of years) and contain approximately double the carbon stock of the atmosphere. Warming and associated permafrost thaw can expose soil organic carbon and result in mineralization and carbon dioxide (CO2) release. However, some of this soil organic carbon may be eroded and transferred to rivers. If it escapes degradation during river transport and is buried in marine sediments, then it can contribute to a longer-term (more than ten thousand years), geological CO2 sink. Despite this recognition, the erosional flux and fate of particulate organic carbon (POC) in large rivers at high latitudes remains poorly constrained. Here, we quantify the source of POC in the Mackenzie River, the main sediment supplier to the Arctic Ocean, and assess its flux and fate. We combine measurements of radiocarbon, stable carbon isotopes and element ratios to correct for rock-derived POC. Our samples reveal that the eroded biospheric POC has resided in the basin for millennia, with a mean radiocarbon age of 5,800 ± 800 years, much older than the POC in large tropical rivers. From the measured biospheric POC content and variability in annual sediment yield, we calculate a biospheric POC flux of 2.2(+1.3)(-0.9) teragrams of carbon per year from the Mackenzie River, which is three times the CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering in this basin. Offshore, we find evidence for efficient terrestrial organic carbon burial over the Holocene period, suggesting that erosion of organic carbon-rich, high-latitude soils may result in an important geological CO2 sink.
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global carbon export from the terrestrial biosphere controlled by erosion
Nature, 2015Co-Authors: Valier Galy, Bernhard Peuckerehrenbrink, Timothy I EglintonAbstract:Particulate organic carbon export from the terrestrial biosphere is primarily controlled by physical erosion, and tectonic and climatic forcing of physical erosion may favour biospheric particulate organic carbon sequestration over silicate weathering as a long-term atmospheric carbon dioxide sink. The nature and efficiency of riverine export of particulate organic carbon to the ocean, including the balance between particulate organic carbon derived from the terrestrial biosphere and from rock-derived organic carbon, affects the atmospheric carbon inventory on many different timescales. The fluxes of biospheric and petrogenic organic carbon and the mechanisms controlling particulate organic carbon export, however, remain poorly understood. This paper provides global estimates for biospheric and petrogenic particulate organic carbon fluxes based on data from a suite of river systems. The study also reveals that particulate organic carbon export is primarily controlled by physical erosion and that tectonic and climatic forcing of physical erosion may favour biospheric particulate organic carbon sequestration over silicate weathering as a long-term atmospheric carbon dioxide sink. Riverine export of particulate organic carbon (POC) to the ocean affects the atmospheric carbon inventory over a broad range of timescales1,2,3,4,5. On geological timescales, the balance between sequestration of POC from the terrestrial biosphere and oxidation of rock-derived (petrogenic) organic carbon sets the magnitude of the atmospheric carbon and oxygen reservoirs6,7. Over shorter timescales, variations in the rate of exchange between carbon reservoirs, such as soils and marine sediments, also modulate atmospheric carbon dioxide levels1. The respective fluxes of biospheric and petrogenic organic carbon are poorly constrained, however, and mechanisms controlling POC export have remained elusive, limiting our ability to predict POC fluxes quantitatively as a result of climatic or tectonic changes. Here we estimate biospheric and petrogenic POC fluxes for a suite of river systems representative of the natural variability in catchment properties. We show that export yields of both biospheric and petrogenic POC are positively related to the yield of suspended sediment, revealing that POC export is mostly controlled by physical erosion. Using a global compilation of gauged suspended sediment flux, we derive separate estimates of global biospheric and petrogenic POC fluxes of and megatonnes of carbon per year, respectively. We find that biospheric POC export is primarily controlled by the capacity of rivers to mobilize and transport POC, and is largely insensitive to the magnitude of terrestrial primary production. Globally, physical erosion rates affect the rate of biospheric POC burial in marine sediments more strongly than carbon sequestration through silicate weathering. We conclude that burial of biospheric POC in marine sediments becomes the dominant long-term atmospheric carbon dioxide sink under enhanced physical erosion.
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source transport and fluxes of amazon river particulate organic carbon insights from river sediment depth profiles
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014Co-Authors: Julien Bouchez, Robert G Hilton, Valier Galy, Jerome Gaillardet, Patricia Moreiraturcq, Marcela A P Perez, Christian Francelanord, Laurence MauriceAbstract:In order to reveal particulate organic carbon (POC) source and mode of transport in the largest river basin on Earth, we sampled the main sediment-laden tributaries of the Amazon system (Solimoes, Madeira and Amazon) during two sampling campaigns, following vertical depth-profiles. This sampling technique takes advantage of hydrodynamic sorting to access the full range of solid erosion products transported by the river. Using the Al/Si ratio of the river sediments as a proxy for grain size, we find a general increase in POC content with Al/Si, as sediments become finer. However, the sample set shows marked variability in the POC content for a given Al/Si ratio, with the Madeira River having lower POC content across the measured range in Al/Si. The POC content is not strongly related to the specific surface area (SSA) of the suspended load, and bed sediments have a much lower POC/SSA ratio. These data suggest that SSA exerts a significant, yet partial, control on POC transport in Amazon River suspended sediment. We suggest that the role of clay mineralogy, discrete POC particles and rock-derived POC warrant further attention in order to fully understand POC transport in large rivers. To examine the source of POC in the Amazon Basin in more detail, we use radiocarbon ( 14 C) content and the stable isotope composition (d 13 C) of POC. 14 C activity demonstrates that rock-derived POC is a significant component of river bed sediments and contributes to POC across the river depth-profiles of suspended sediments. We estimate that the flux of rock-derived POC may reach � 10% of the total POC export by the Amazon River. After correcting for rock-derived POC input, we find that POC from the terrestrial biosphere (biospheric POC) is mostly sourced from C3-plants. Higher biospheric POC d 13 C values in the Madeira River (by � 0.5-1&) are best explained by a small (<5%) contribution of C4-grasses from Bolivian savannas. Finally, we use 14 C to estimate the mean age of biospheric POC exported from the Amazon Basin. The data show that biospheric POC is younger in the Solimoes River (1120 years) than in the Madeira River (2850 years). These
Tommy Garling - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the relationships between awareness of consequences environmental concern and value orientations
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2008Co-Authors: Andre Hansla, Amelie Gamble, Asgeir Juliusson, Tommy GarlingAbstract:Different people become engaged in environmental issues and perform proenvironmental behavior because they believe in and are concerned about adverse consequences of environmental problems for themselves (egoistic beliefs and concerns), others (social-altruistic beliefs and concerns), or the biosphere (biospheric beliefs and concerns). These different beliefs and concerns are assumed to derive from corresponding value orientations. Yet, distinguishing egoistic, social-altruistic, and biospheric value orientations has proved difficult in previous research. Based on a survey of 494 Swedish residents between 18 and 69 years old, the present study provides empirical support for that egoistic, social-altruistic, and biospheric environmental concerns are related to corresponding awareness-of-consequences beliefs, and that both the beliefs and environmental concerns are related to the three value types power, benevolence, and universalism.
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moderating effects of social value orientation on determinants of proenvironmental behavior intention
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2003Co-Authors: Tommy Garling, Satoshi Fujii, Anita Garling, Cecilia JakobssonAbstract:A sample of 524 car owners living in a metropolitan area of Sweden answered survey questions measuring intention to perform collective proenvironmental behavior, awareness of egoistic, social-altruistic, and biospheric environmental consequences, personal norm, and ascribed responsibility. A measure derived from the survey responses was used to classify individuals in prosocial vs. proself value orientations. A structural model was estimated positing that proenvironmental behavior intentions are causally related to personal norm that in turn is causally related to ascribed responsibility and awareness of the different types of environmental consequences. Prosocials differed from proselfs in that to them social-altruistic consequences were more and egoistic consequences less salient.