Low-income people and pro-environmental behavior
beyond money issues, a literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0214.19981Keywords:
low-income, pro-environmental behaviorAbstract
Introduction: Poverty and environmental problems are two major concerns humanity is facing in its pursuit for a better quality of life.
Objetive: Relate, from a perspective of psychology and environmental management, poverty with the pro-environmental behavior of low-income people.
Methods: A literature review was carried out. The search for articles to be reviewed considered three main criteria: 1. the articles are related to a certain kind of pro-environmental behavior in a specific context, and have an environmental management approach; 2. low-income people are the central focus of the research, not just another sociodemographic aspect; 3. the articles are based on one of the two main psychological theories applied to environmental management and pro-environmental behavior, Social Cognitive Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior.
Results: The eleven articles analyzed share the conclusion that psychological factors – especially self-efficacy – contribute to a better understanding of the possibilities and impediments for low-income people to practice pro-environmental behavior.
Conclusion: These articles go beyond the obvious income-related analysis that limits the problematic to a money/income issue. They significantly contribute to the improvement of environmental management and policies that are able to include low-income people in the common effort to preserve nature.
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References
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Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.
Ajzen, I. (2002). Perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(4), 665–683. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb00236.x
Al Mamun, A., Fazal, S. A., Ahmad, G. B., Yaacob, M. R. B., & Mohamad, M. R. (2018). Willingness to pay for environmentally friendly products among low-income households along coastal peninsular Malaysia. Sustainability, 10(5), 1316. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051316
Al Mamun, A., Masud, M. M., Fazal, S. A., & Muniady, R. (2019). Green vehicle adoption behavior among low-income households: Evidence from coastal Malaysia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(26), 27305–27318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05908-2
Al Mamun, A., Mohamad, M. R., Yaacob, M. R. B., & Mohiuddin, M. (2018). Intention and behavior towards green consumption among low-income households. Journal of Environmental Management, 227(January), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.08.061
Al Mamun, A., Mohiuddin, M., Ahmad, G. Bin, Thurasamy, R., & Fazal, S. A. (2018). Recycling intention and behavior among low-income households. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072407
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Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control (Seventh printing, 2003). New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Behbehani, L., & Prokopy, L. (2017). The apropriation of built heritage and pro-environmental behaviours. International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR, 11(1), 67. https://doi.org/10.26687/archnet-ijar.v11i1.1195
Boomsma, C., Jones, R. V., Pahl, S., & Fuertes, A. (2019). Do psychological factors relate to energy saving behaviours in inefficient and damp homes? A study among English social housing residents. Energy Research & Social Science, 47, 146–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.09.007
Chen, C., Xu, X., & Day, J. K. (2017). Thermal comfort or money saving? Exploring intentions to conserve energy among low-income households in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 26, 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.01.009
Chen, M.-F. (2015). Self-efficacy or collective efficacy within the cognitive theory of stress model: Which more effectively explains people’s self-reported pro-environmental behavior? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.02.002
Clayton, S., Devine-Wright, P., Swim, J., Bonnes, M., Steg, L., Whitmarsh, L., & Carrico, A. (2016). Expanding the role for psychology in addressing environmental challenges. American Psychologist, 71(3), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039482
Ding, Z., Jiang, X., Liu, Z., Long, R., Xu, Z., & Cao, Q. (2018). Factors affecting low-carbon consumption behavior of urban residents: A comprehensive review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 132, 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.01.013
Hafner, R. J., Pahl, S., Jones, R. V., & Fuertes, A. (2020). Energy use in social housing residents in the UK and recommendations for developing energy behaviour change interventions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 251, 119643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119643
Kibert, N. C. (2018). Green justice: A holistic approach to environmental injustice. Florida State Universitu Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law, 17(1), 169–182.
Raath, S., & Hay, A. (2016). Self-efficacy: A South African case study on teachers’ commitment to integrate climate change resilience into their teaching practices. Cogent Education, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1264698
Russell-Bennett, R., Mulcahy, R., Little, J.-A., & Swinton, T. (2018). Money or mind? What matters most in influencing low-income earners to be energy efficient? Journal of Social Marketing, 8(1), 2–23. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-08-2016-0039
Samaddar, S., Chatterjee, R., Misra, B., & Tatano, H. (2014). Outcome-expectancy and self-efficacy: Reasons or results of flood preparedness intention? International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 8, 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.02.002
Tabernero, C., & Hernández, B. (2011). Self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation guiding environmental behavior. Environment and Behavior, 43(5), 658–675. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916510379759
Wamuyu, P. K. (2018). Leveraging web 2.0 technologies to foster collective civic environmental initiatives among low-income urban communities. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.029
Zhao, G., Cavusgil, E., & Zhao, Y. (2016). A protection motivation explanation of base-of-pyramid consumers’ environmental sustainability. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 45, 116–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.12.003
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