Philipp Franikowski

Pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) such as climate-friendly mobility and eating habits hold great promise in terms of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and, thus, are important goals for addressing climate change from a population perspective. Yet, sociodemographic correlates and differences in PEB intentions have to be considered in designing messages and behavior change interventions. This study implemented a quota-sampling survey (N = 979, 511 women, 468 men, age M = 50.4, SD = 17.2) of the German population and found that, overall, participants exhibit strong intentions to engage in various PEBs, with the exception of cycling and adopting a vegetarian diet. Moreover, women displayed higher intentions to engage in PEBs compared to men, particularly in adopting a vegetarian diet. The relationships between socioeconomic status (SES) and PEB intentions, as well as the combined effects of gender and SES, were inconsistent for different PEB intentions. We conclude that on a population level, intention-building interventions are necessary for vegetarianism and cycling, while for the other PEBs, interventions may focus on closing the intention–behavior gap. There is a need to further research the interplay of different PEBs in diverse groups and for interventional studies targeting the discrepancy in eating habits across genders.

The reduction of individual carbon consumption could make an important contribution to the worldwide effort to limit global warming. Based on Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement, we hypothesized that the propensity to morally disengage concerning high-carbon behaviors (e.g., eating meat or traveling by plane) is one important factor that prevents individuals from reducing their carbon footprint. To measure the propensity to morally disengage in high-carbon-related behavior contexts, a questionnaire (MD-HCB) was developed and psychometrically validated in an online study with a German sample (N = 220). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the final nine-item scale had a one-dimensional structure, as intended. The internal consistency of the scale was excellent (Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and the scale interpretation had predictive validity for both past low-carbon consumption behavior and the intention to engage in such behavior in the future. Correlational analyses with relevant existing instruments confirmed the construct validity of the interpretations that can be drawn from the MD-HCB, as its resulting score is related to, yet separable from, the general tendency to morally disengage and is meaningfully connected to related constructs. A pre-study with a student sample (N = 89) not only helped to identify limitations in the study design but also showed a weak predictive ability of moral competence concerning high-carbon consumption behavior and intention to change. Based on our findings, future media campaigns designed to increase people’s intention to reduce high-carbon behavior could focus on the modification of common cognitive disengagement strategies.