A review of consistency in climate action: The role of social interactions and institutions in cultivating positive behavioral spillover

Abstract

To address the multifaceted problem of climate change, individuals must perform a range of individual and collective actions. To aid this process, research has sought to understand behavioral spillover — how one action impacts the likelihood of performing other actions. Recent theorizing emphasizes environmental identity, social norms, and affect and efficacy as key psychological mechanisms underlying positive spillover. Yet, spillover effects remain small and heterogenous. This review posits that driving positive spillover at the scale needed to mitigate climate change requires social and societal scaffolding. Emergent research leverages collective processes, including interpersonal and social interactions and institutional practices, to further amplify these psychological mechanisms and bolster positive behavioral spillover. For instance, workplaces can prompt the internalization of in-role pro-environmental behavior, resulting in positive spillovers to advocacy and household behaviors. Embedding psychological processes of behavioral spillover within collective processes presents a promising avenue to drive spillover between individual and collective climate actions.