Journal of Environmental Psychology最新文献

As a key outcome in environmental psychology, pro-environmental behavior is studied in various different ways. Researchers observe naturally occurring pro-environmental behaviors, ask people to complete self-report scales, or devise behavioral tasks with ecological consequences. These approaches have been claimed to yield measures of pro-environmental behavior. The present paper argues that this terminology is misleading. Some pro-environmental behavior researchers measure behavioral properties of pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., frequency, duration), while others apparently aim to measure more or less general person properties (e.g., pro-environmental propensity or preference). Behavioral properties and person properties are logically distinct, but they become conflated when researchers indiscriminately refer to observations, items, scales, and tasks as measures of pro-environmental behavior. As a result, researchers may end up evaluating their purported measures against irrelevant quality criteria, expecting convergence where it cannot be expected, using methods inconsistent with their research goal, and making spurious conclusions. They erroneously consider multi-item scales and behavioral tasks as measures of the same construct, examine the construct validity of procedures that cannot reasonably be assumed to capture a psychological construct, or mistake the correlates of person properties for the determinants of behavior. To promote a cumulative science of pro-environmental behavior and prevent misguided research efforts, researchers should carefully distinguish between measurement targets and avoid claiming that they “measured pro-environmental behavior”.

Individuals' explanations for the cause of global climate change are based on their life experiences and acquired climate knowledge, namely the lay theories of climate change by this study. This explanation could related with their coping on climate change, but previous research has paid less attention to this issue. Study 1 conducted two national surveys (1a: n = 978, 1b: n = 933) to explore Chinese people’s lay theories of climate change and their relationship to coping strategies. In Study 2, three sub-studies were conducted to investigate the variability of lay theories of climate change and its impact on coping strategies, respectively, using the priming experiment (2a: n = 150) and the daily experience method (2b: n = 76, 2c: n = 138). The results suggest that lay theories of climate change can be divided into natural cycle theory and human-made acceleration theory. Human-made acceleration theory positively predicts problem- and meaning-focused coping strategies, and negatively predicts emotion-focused coping strategies. Participants' lay theories of climate change, while stable, are subject to change, which in turn affects their coping strategies. It is harder to get participants to switch to natural cycle theory than to human-made acceleration theory. This study puts forward the viewpoint of lay theories of climate change, which enriches the research on coping strategies of climate change.

Older adults have difficulties using a map, and the use of GPS systems seems beneficial to help them find their way in cities. The question arises however as to what extent the introduction of landmarks can be even more beneficial. While the visual saliency of landmarks has been well studied, the cognitive saliency of landmarks has received little attention. Our objective in this study was to determine if guiding young and older pedestrians with visually and cognitively salient landmarks inserted in a map or a GPS-like system improved spatial performances. Thirty-four young and 32 older adults navigated a virtual environment using a joystick. They were guided with a map or with GPS-like instructions, including either only visually or both visually and cognitively salient landmarks. After each itinerary, participants completed four tasks: landmark recognition and sequencing, direction recognition and sequencing. The results showed that the integration of visually and cognitively salient landmarks in a map or in GPS-like instructions improved the construction of landmark and route knowledge in both young and older participants. Results also suggested that age-related deficits in spatial memory could be reduced by using GPS-like instructions or by introducing cognitively salient landmarks, in a map or in a GPS-like system. This research opens several perspectives for research as well for the design of human-centred navigation aids.

Access to green space and physical activity have both been shown to be associated with individuals’ subjective wellbeing. The present study explored the role of physical activity in the association between reported access to public green space and subjective wellbeing at two distinct timepoints during (12 months after the beginning of) and after (24 months after the beginning of) the COVID-19 pandemic. This study made use of the longitudinal COPE dataset involving a series of online surveys administered to a cohort throughout the pandemic. A series of linear regression models revealed small but significant associations between reported access to public green space on the one hand and physical activity and subjective wellbeing on the other. The analyses further showed that physical activity partly mediates the relationship between reported access to public green space and subjective wellbeing at both the 12-month and 24-month timepoints. Physical activity and subjective wellbeing were higher at the 24-month than at the 12-month timepoint, but reported access to public green space did not play a role in these changes. Evidence was found that the increase in subjective wellbeing from 12 to 24 months can partly be explained by a change in physical activity.

Studies highlighted the effectiveness of exposure to virtual natural environments in enhancing awe. Nevertheless, the mechanisms through which this occurs and the methodologies that can help strengthen this effect are less investigated. We propose that a VR arctic environment with a mindfulness track – compared to a VR arctic environment without a mindfulness track and a VR urban environment with a mindfulness track – should be more effective in enhancing awe through restorativeness. Participants (86 students) were randomly assigned to three conditions in a between-subject design: 1) 3D-built VR arctic environment with mindfulness track, 2) 3D-built VR urban environment with a mindfulness track, and 3) 3D-built VR arctic environment without a mindfulness track. Results of mediation analysis with multicategorical predictors, as expected, show the superior effectiveness of the exposure to a VR arctic environment with mindfulness track (vs. the same environment without mindfulness track and an urban environment with mindfulness track). Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more organizations have implemented remote working, and more and more workers have experienced an overlap between home and work environments. Home environments, therefore, had to be readjusted in their spatial configurations to meet and satisfy the needs of workers. Through the lens of Self-Determination Theory, the study aims to investigate how perceived remote workplace environment quality indicators (PRWEQIs) can contribute to greater home working engagement through the satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs and attachment to the home workplace. The research consists of two cross-sectional studies. The first one examines how the place-related needs of autonomy, competence, and relationship, satisfied by the home working place features, can mediate the effect of perceived comfort on home workplace attachment. The second study analyzes how comfort and workplace attachment can contribute to satisfying the same needs referred to the job activities, thus generating greater engagement in the home worker. The research provides supportive empirical evidence that workplace attachment can also be developed under home working conditions.

Law enforcement is intended to deter illicit behaviors by instilling fear in people. However, limited empirical evidence exists regarding the effect of law enforcement on people's perceived risk of being sanctioned for violating rules and regulations. Here, we explore the general deterrent effects of recycling law enforcement using a survey experiment with 744 residents of Shanghai, China. Information on recycling law enforcement increases respondents' perceived intensity of monitoring and perceived risk of punishment for violations of recycling laws. The effects still hold when excluding the confounding effects from the enactment of recycling laws. We also investigated heterogeneity of the effects across populations. Our results underscore the existence of general deterrent effects associated with recycling law enforcement. We conclude that the public disclosure of cases of punishment for recycling law violations could serve as an effective means to enforce recycling practices.