Paola Passafaro

Distinguishing the sources of normative influence on proenvironmental behaviors The role of local norms in household waste recycling

The aim of this study was to assess whether different kinds of social norms make a distinct contribution and are differently associated to a place-related behavior, such as household waste recycling. The construct of “local norms” is introduced to identify the normative influence that derives from people sharing the same spatial-physical setting. This kind of influence is expected to hold particular relevance when dealing with individual behaviors that have spatially defined collective implications. Participants were 452 residents of various Italian cities, who filled in a questionnaire measuring intentions to recycle, attitudes towards recycling, perceived behavioral control, and 4 kinds of norms stemming from a 2 x 2 combination (i.e., injunctive vs. descriptive, and subjective vs. local norms). Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed the empirical distinction of the 4 kinds of norms, and showed their independent effects on recycling intentions. In particular, descriptive norms (both subjective and local) emerged as powerful predictors of the target proenvironmental behavior, both directly and indirectly through their influence on perceived behavioral control. The implications of the distinction among different kinds of social norms and their relationship with the other dimensions are discussed.

The Ambivalence of Attitudes Toward Urban Green Areas: Between Proenvironmental Worldviews and Daily Residential Experience

The ambivalence of attitudes toward urban green areas is investigated through a cross-sectional survey carried out in the city of Rome (N = 500). First, the dimensional structure, and then the personal tendency to hold ambivalent attitudes were analyzed in relation to: (a) broader human values and environmental worldviews (such as biospheric value orientations, ecocentrism vs. anthropocentrism) and (b) specific daily residential experience about urban green areas (perceived quality of neighborhood green areas and self-reported frequency of use of green areas). Results show two separate dimensions (moderately correlated) for attitudes toward urban green areas. The two dimensions are interpreted as measuring appreciation and devaluation of the presence of nature in the city, respectively. They showed different patterns of correlations with the other social-psychological factors considered. Moreover, people with more anthropocentric and apathic worldviews and with egoistic values manifested higher degrees of ambivalence in attitudes toward urban green areas, whereas a less straightforward relationship was found with daily residential experience. The implications of these results for the understanding of people’s relationship with urban green areas are discussed.

Promoting Ecotourism Among Young People: A Segmentation Strategy

Ecotourism in natural protected areas is receiving growing international recognition as a means to enhance sustainability. Nonetheless, research on ecotourism and, in particular, on young ecotourists segmentation is still scarce. This study aimed at segmenting the market of young tourists using a range of psychosociological factors. First, a sample of 365 young tourists was segmented on the basis of holiday motivations (considered driving factors of attitudes and behaviors). Second, each group identified was characterized by a consistent set of other psychosociological variables, such as personality traits, personal values, general environmental beliefs, and behavioral variables (ecotourism behavioral intentions and consumption habits). The results show that about 80% of the sample would be open to the ecotourism, and different communication strategies for promoting ecotourism for different segments of potential ecotourists are also proposed.

Planned behavior and “local” norms: An analysis of the space-based aspects of normative ecological behavior

Observing the behavior of other people is a fundamental source for the formation of social norms: in fact the behavior of others in the spatial context proximal to the individual might prime and activate voluntary choices. This idea is deeply rooted in various traditions of psychological theory and research, and can be traced back to the early beginning of experimental social psychology. For example, James (1890) proposed the so-called Principle of Ideomotor Action, postulating that simple thinking about a certain action might increase the individual’s tendency to perform it. About one century later, the principle of ideomotor action was assumed as a fundamental mechanism in social cognition research, to explain the priming effects in the automatic activation of social behavior (e.g., Bargh et al. 1996). According to Bargh et al. mental representations and consequent social-behavioral responses might be activated automatically by the mere presence of relevant features in the environment, including the perception of others enacting that behavior. The roots for such an assumption can be found in many domains of psychological research, relating to the concepts of imitation (Koffka 1935; Piaget 1946) and social learning (Bandura 1977), as well as to the process of aggressive behavior following exposure to media communication (e.g., Berkowitz 1984). We argue here that this kind of normative influence has specific spatial roots, which should emerge particularly in the case of those human behaviors having an impact on the quality of our physical environment, and thus having collective implications for the well being of individuals, groups and communities. In fact pro-environmental behaviors have a territorial basis, and are performed in specific places; therefore it is more likely that the ‘‘significant others’’ are represented by those social actors sharing that specific place with the individual (e.g., his/her neighbors). The recycling of household waste is included among these behaviors. The decision on whether separating the household rubbish or not could be influenced more by what our neighbors (compared with our relatives and close friends) do or think about it. Indeed, previous studies showed that descriptive local norms (i.e., individual perceptions of relevant other’s behaviors) are linked to intention to engage in domestic waste recycling (e.g., Carrus et al. 2008). The aim of this paper is to explore the role of social influence stemming from people with whom we share a spatial-physical milieu in everyday life, so as to highlight the role of spatial proximity in the construction of social norms. To this extent, an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen 1991) is used to predict ICSC 2009, 4th International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Rome, 14–18 September 2009.

The “sustainable tourist”: Values, attitudes, and personality traits

This paper reports the results of two exploratory studies (overall N=532) which aimed at drawing the profile of the “sustainable tourist” (a person committed to respect the sustainability principles when on holiday) in terms of personal values, attitudes, and personality traits, following an environmental psychology approach. More specifically, study 1 explored the role of attitudes toward sustainable tourism, affinity toward (social and environmental) diversity, and personal values, while study 2 assessed the role of the Big Five personality traits in the prediction of preferences for sustainable and unsustainable tourist activities. Results indicate that biospheric values, positive attitudes toward sustainable tourism, and higher levels of affinity toward diversity are able to predict more sustainable tourism choices while personality traits seemed to play a more indirect and complex role.

Youth and ecotourism: A qualitative exploration

Young people’s beliefs concerning ecotourism were investigated in a qualitative study based on the focus group technique. Findings confirmed results of previous research work conducted with both adults and the young populations that had recorded a general lack of knowledge of the nature, aims and characteristics of ecotourism, as well as a lack of awareness of some of its potentialities like, for example, the benefits it could provide to local inhabitants. In addition, new insights were added to the existing literature concerning the characteristics and contents of the image of this tourism phenomenon which appeared to be affected by preconceptions and stereotypes.