Sustainability in the workplace and the theory of planned behaviour: Norms and identity predict environmentally friendly intentions
Book chapter
Nigbur, D., Fernandez, A., Coen, S., Franz, A. and Hocking, I. 2021. Sustainability in the workplace and the theory of planned behaviour: Norms and identity predict environmentally friendly intentions. in: Leal Filho, W., Salvia, A. L. and Frankenberger, F. (ed.) Handbook on Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Development Edward Elgar.
Authors | Nigbur, D., Fernandez, A., Coen, S., Franz, A. and Hocking, I. |
---|---|
Editors | Leal Filho, W., Salvia, A. L. and Frankenberger, F. |
Abstract | Social psychology offers an insightful perspective on the psychological processes underlying sustainability-related intentions and actions, at universities and elsewhere. Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is a well-supported model, positing that attitudes alone will rarely predict intentions and behaviour accurately. Rather, individuals are sensitive to social norms (the perceived requirements of a setting and/or a group to which the actor belongs) and perceived control (the sense that the actor is capable of the behaviour and the environment offers the opportunity). Recently, it has been suggested to include self-identity (the notion that the behaviour is part of who you are). This paper summarises previous research linking the TPB to sustainability, and then reports a quantitative survey of 118 staff members at Canterbury Christ Church University. An online questionnaire measured attitudes, social norms, perceived control, self-identity, and intentions relating to office waste recycling, energy saving, and transport choice. Overall, only self-identity and subjective norms reliably predicted intentions to act in environmentally sustainable ways. Follow-up analyses suggest that different predictors were significant for different intentions, but self-identity always improved prediction over and above the original TPB variables. In conclusion, universities can best cultivate sustainability intentions by promoting favourable norms and self-identities. |
Keywords | Sustainability; Social norms; Attitudes; Self-identity; Theory of planned behaviour |
Year | 2021 |
Book title | Handbook on Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Development |
Publisher | Edward Elgar |
Output status | Published |
ISBN | 9781839104640 |
Publication dates | |
2021 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 30 Nov 2020 |
Related URL | https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-teaching-and-learning-for-sustainable-development-9781839104640.html |
https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/8ww1q/sustainability-in-the-workplace-and-the-theory-of-planned-behaviour-norms-and-identity-predict-environmentally-friendly-intentions
182
total views1
total downloads3
views this month0
downloads this month
Export as
Related outputs
The dynamics of leadership and resistance in repressive regimes: The cases of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Polish People’s Republic
Jurstakova, K., Ntontis, E. and Nigbur, D. 2024. The dynamics of leadership and resistance in repressive regimes: The cases of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Polish People’s Republic. in: Bou Zeineddine, F. and Vollhardt, J.R. (ed.) Resistance to Repression and Violence: Global Psychological Perspectives Oxford University Press.Lived experiences of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the UK: Migration and identity
Warren, Jana and Nigbur, Dennis 2024. Lived experiences of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the UK: Migration and identity. British Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12736The dynamics of leadership and resistance in repressive regimes: The cases of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Polish People’s Republic
Jurstakova, K., Ntontis, E. and Nigbur, D. 2024. The dynamics of leadership and resistance in repressive regimes: The cases of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Polish People’s Republic. in: Bou Zeineddine, F. and Vollhardt, J.R. (ed.) The Psychology of Resistance in Violent and Repressive Contexts Oxford Oxford University Press. pp. 262-281Allah has told us everything: An interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring the lived experiences of British Muslims
Murphy, J., Jones, Fergal W and Nigbur, Dennis 2023. Allah has told us everything: An interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring the lived experiences of British Muslims. Archive for the Psychology of Religion. 45 (2), pp. 133-151. https://doi.org/10.1177/00846724231158415The return of a cultural icon to Kent: attitudes towards the red-billed chough
Consorte-McCrea, A., Franz, A. and Bainbridge, A. 2023. The return of a cultural icon to Kent: attitudes towards the red-billed chough.Seeing is believing: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of the ‘spiritual but not religious’ in Britain
Murphy, J., Jones, F. W. and Nigbur, D. 2023. Seeing is believing: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of the ‘spiritual but not religious’ in Britain. Secularism & Nonreligion. 12 (2), pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.162Attitudes towards the reintroduction of the chough to Kent
Consorte-McCrea, A., Franz, A. and Bainbridge, A. 2022. Attitudes towards the reintroduction of the chough to Kent.Telling complex stories: A review of the QMiP conference at De Montfort University
Law, J. and Nigbur, D. 2022. Telling complex stories: A review of the QMiP conference at De Montfort University . Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin. 34, pp. 43-47.Collective victimhood in populist media about Brexit: rage against the machine?
Nigbur, D., Williams, E., Layton, A., Tsirogianni, S., Ntontis, E., Hoerst, C., Jemwa, A. and Volkers Poile, I. 2022. Collective victimhood in populist media about Brexit: rage against the machine?‘I believe in something; I don’t know what it is’: an exploration of five British Hindus’ worldviews using interpretative phenomenological analysis
Murphy, J., Jones, F. W. and Nigbur, D. 2022. ‘I believe in something; I don’t know what it is’: an exploration of five British Hindus’ worldviews using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Secularism & Nonreligion. 11 (4), pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.160Living in a world with God: An interpretative phenomenological exploration of the religious experiences of five Baptists in Britain
Murphy, J., Jones, F., Nigbur, D. and Gee, K. 2021. Living in a world with God: An interpretative phenomenological exploration of the religious experiences of five Baptists in Britain. Europe's Journal of Psychology. 18 (2), pp. 154-167. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.3119Talk like an expert: The construction of expertise in news comments concerning climate change
Coen, S., Meredith, J., Woods, R. and Fernandez, A. 2020. Talk like an expert: The construction of expertise in news comments concerning climate change. Public Understanding of Science. 30 (4), pp. 400-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520981729Dual identity, conflict, and education: An exploration of the lived experience of social relationships of young British Muslim women who attend British universities
Franz, A., Hunt, M. and Nigbur, D. 2020. Dual identity, conflict, and education: An exploration of the lived experience of social relationships of young British Muslim women who attend British universities. Social Identities. 27 (3), pp. 342-358. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2020.1828053Young people, sexuality and the age of pornography
Massey, K., Burns, J. and Franz, A. 2020. Young people, sexuality and the age of pornography. Sexuality and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-020-09771-zSustainability in the workplace and the theory of planned behaviour: Norms and identity predict environmentally friendly intentions
Nigbur, D., Fernandez, A., Coen, S., Franz, A. and Hocking, I. 2020. Sustainability in the workplace and the theory of planned behaviour: Norms and identity predict environmentally friendly intentions.Being German: examining national identity as a collective experience
Nigbur, D. and Franz, A. 2019. Being German: examining national identity as a collective experience.Portrait of an artist as collaborator: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of an artist
Hocking, I. 2019. Portrait of an artist as collaborator: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of an artist. Frontiers in Psychology. 10 (251), pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00251The use of therapy dogs to support court users in the waiting room
Spruin, L., Ozcakir Mozova, K., Franz, A., Mitchell, S., Fernandez, A., Dempster, T. and Holt, N. 2019. The use of therapy dogs to support court users in the waiting room. International Criminal Justice Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057567719827063Written evidence submitted to the EFRA committee inquiry into the legislation on dangerous dogs
Franz, A. 2018. Written evidence submitted to the EFRA committee inquiry into the legislation on dangerous dogs. EFRA Committee website EFRA. https://doi.org/DDL0291Experiences of musical performance anxiety in final-year undergraduate music students: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Robinson, G. and Nigbur, D. 2018. Experiences of musical performance anxiety in final-year undergraduate music students: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Social Psychological Review. 20 (1).Moral (dis)engagement with anthropogenic climate change in online comments on newspaper articles
Woods, R., Coen, S. and Fernandez, A. 2018. Moral (dis)engagement with anthropogenic climate change in online comments on newspaper articles. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2355Inferring national trends in discourse research using Q methodology
Franz, A., Worrell, M. and Vögele, C. 2017. Inferring national trends in discourse research using Q methodology.![](/~419/qpk/default-thumbnail.png)
Further explorations of enhancing creative problem solving via structured thinking techniques
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2017. Further explorations of enhancing creative problem solving via structured thinking techniques.The right tool for the right task: structured techniques prove less effective on an ill-defined problem finding task
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2017. The right tool for the right task: structured techniques prove less effective on an ill-defined problem finding task. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 26, pp. 84-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.08.001National character
Nigbur, D. 2017. National character. in: Moghaddam, F. (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Political Behavior London SAGE.Nationalism
Nigbur, D. 2017. Nationalism. in: Moghaddam, F. (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Political Behavior London SAGE.Increasing ethnic diversity moderates longitudinal effects of individual differences on friendship homophily
Jugert, P., Rutland, A., Brown, R., Cameron, L., Nigbur, D., Watters, C., Hossain, R., Landau, A. and Le Touze, D. 2017. Increasing ethnic diversity moderates longitudinal effects of individual differences on friendship homophily. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2319Implications of teenagers' attitudes toward maned wolf conservation in Brazil
Consorte-McCrea, A., Nigbur, D. and Bath, A. 2017. Implications of teenagers' attitudes toward maned wolf conservation in Brazil. Canid Biology & Conservation. 20 (5), pp. 16-24.The golden path: first steps in establishing order for two creative problem solving techniques
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2017. The golden path: first steps in establishing order for two creative problem solving techniques. Edinburgh Napier UniversityEnhancing creative problem solving and creative self-efficacy: a preliminary study
Dempster, T., Hocking, I., Vernon, D. and Snyder, H. 2017. Enhancing creative problem solving and creative self-efficacy: a preliminary study. Edinburgh Napier UniversityA bridge too far: conceptual distance and creative ideation
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2017. A bridge too far: conceptual distance and creative ideation. Creativity: Theories, Research, Applications. 4 (2), pp. 333-352. https://doi.org/10.1515/ctra-2017-0017The use of dogs in the courtroom
Spruin, L., Holt, N., Fernandez, A. and Franz, A. 2016. The use of dogs in the courtroom. in: Klein, A. (ed.) Crime and Criminal Behaviour Nova Science Publishers. pp. 1-16![](/~419/qpk/default-thumbnail.png)
A matter of perspective: the impact of near and far conceptual distance on creative problem solving
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2016. A matter of perspective: the impact of near and far conceptual distance on creative problem solving.![](/~419/qpk/default-thumbnail.png)
Which cues work best? An examination of two structured thinking tools using eye-tracking analysis
Hocking, I., Vernon, D., Rehal, N. and Valkova, M. 2016. Which cues work best? An examination of two structured thinking tools using eye-tracking analysis.Either here or there: exploring conceptual distance using a novel clock face paradigm in a creative problem solving task
Vernon, D. and Hocking, I. 2016. Either here or there: exploring conceptual distance using a novel clock face paradigm in a creative problem solving task.Exploring the belief systems of domestic abuse victims using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA)
Spruin, L., Alleyne, E., Baker, R., Papadaki, I. and Franz, A. 2017. Exploring the belief systems of domestic abuse victims using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice. 3 (1), pp. 17-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-10-2016-0028Animal Welfare: Domestic pets – written evidence (AWF 238)
Franz, A., Ashdown, L., Fernandez, A., Holt, N. and Spruin, L. 2016. Animal Welfare: Domestic pets – written evidence (AWF 238).Written evidence submitted to Commons Select Committee Animal Welfare Inquiry
Franz, A., Ashdown, L., Fernandez, A., Hirst, L., Holt, N., Moore, H. and Spruin, L. 2016. Written evidence submitted to Commons Select Committee Animal Welfare Inquiry. www.parliament.uk.Six Thinking Hats vs. Six Good Men: does the order of the elements matter?
Vernon, D. and Hocking, I. 2016. Six Thinking Hats vs. Six Good Men: does the order of the elements matter?Behavioural evolution: Darwin's theory and adaptive behaviour
Osthaus, B. and Hocking, I. 2016. Behavioural evolution: Darwin's theory and adaptive behaviour. CCCU Science Society Talk. The Foundry, Canterbury, UK 25 May 2016 CCCU Science Society.Dogs in the courtroom
Spruin, L., Holt, N., Fernandez, A. and Franz, A. 2016. Dogs in the courtroom. in: Crime and Criminal Behaviour New York Nova Science Publishers.Understanding attitudes towards native wildlife and biodiversity in the UK: the role of zoos
Consorte-McCrea, A., Bainbridge, A., Fernandez, A., Nigbur, D., McDonnell, S., Morin, A. and Grente, O. 2016. Understanding attitudes towards native wildlife and biodiversity in the UK: the role of zoos. World Sustainability Series. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47883-8_17The use of dogs in the courtroom
Spruin, L., Holt, N., Fernandez, A. and Franz, A. 2016. The use of dogs in the courtroom. in: Klein, A. (ed.) Crime and Criminal Behaviour Nova Science Publishers.An evidence-based review of creative problem solving tools: a practitioner’s resource
Vernon, D., Hocking, I. and Tyler, T. 2016. An evidence-based review of creative problem solving tools: a practitioner’s resource. Human Resource Development Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484316641512Beyond belief: structured techniques prove more effective than a placebo intervention in a problem construction task
Vernon, D. and Hocking, I. 2016. Beyond belief: structured techniques prove more effective than a placebo intervention in a problem construction task. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 19, pp. 153-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2015.10.009Media discourse research with adolescents: a case of isomorphism or non-isomorphism?
Franz, A. 2014. Media discourse research with adolescents: a case of isomorphism or non-isomorphism?Solaris and 'the other' [in Eye on fiction: the alien in us all]
Hocking, I. 2015. Solaris and 'the other' [in Eye on fiction: the alien in us all]. The Psychologist. 28 (10), pp. 808-811.Applying structured techniques in a problem construction task
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2015. Applying structured techniques in a problem construction task. University of Toronto![](/~419/qpk/default-thumbnail.png)
Thinking hats and good men: structured techniques in a problem finding task
Hocking, I. and Vernon, D. 2014. Thinking hats and good men: structured techniques in a problem finding task. University of Nottingham![](/~419/qpk/default-thumbnail.png)