The email conservation task: Testing the validity of an online measure of direct pro-environmental behavior

IF 6.1 1区 心理学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Journal of Environmental Psychology Pub Date : 2024-09-25 DOI:10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102442
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Abstract

There is a need for valid measures of pro-environmental behavior, in particular ones measuring actual behavior. In response, a number of such measures have been introduced recently, however each faces limitations such as high costs, practical use and/or only measure indirect environmental behavior, limiting their scope, accessibility and inclusivity. In response, this study introduces the easily administered and low-cost Email Conservation Task (ECT), which measures direct pro-environmental behaviour (in this case, email use). Here, participants chose between personal costs (time spent on trivial tasks) or environmental costs (receiving unnecessary emails leading to CO2 emissions) across multiple trials. In a pre-registered study testing the validity of the ECT, it was found (as hypothesized) that participants scored higher on the ECT (incurred more personal costs rather than receiving unnecessary emails) when personal costs to them were lower, and scored higher when the environmental costs of receiving unnecessary emails were higher. Finally, total scores on the ECT significantly correlated with scores on three self-reported indicators of pro-environmentalism. Overall, the results of this study support all three hypotheses, indicating that the ECT is a valid measure of pro-environmental behavior that can be implemented across a diverse range of research areas.
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电子邮件保护任务:测试直接环保行为在线测量方法的有效性
我们需要有效的亲环境行为测量方法,尤其是测量实际行为的方法。为此,最近推出了许多此类测量方法,但每种方法都面临着成本高、使用不便和/或只能测量间接环境行为等限制,从而限制了其范围、可及性和包容性。为此,本研究引入了管理简便、成本低廉的电子邮件保护任务(ECT),用于测量直接的环保行为(此处指电子邮件的使用)。在这项任务中,参与者可以在多次试验中选择个人成本(花在琐碎任务上的时间)或环境成本(接收不必要的电子邮件导致二氧化碳排放)。在一项测试 ECT 有效性的预注册研究中,研究人员发现(正如假设的那样),当参与者的个人成本较低时,他们在 ECT 上的得分较高(产生更多个人成本而不是接收不必要的电子邮件),而当接收不必要电子邮件的环境成本较高时,他们的得分较高。最后,ECT 的总分与自我报告的三项亲环境指标的得分有明显的相关性。总之,本研究的结果支持所有三个假设,表明 ECT 是一种有效的亲环境行为测量方法,可在多个研究领域中使用。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
10.60
自引率
8.70%
发文量
140
审稿时长
62 days
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
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