Why We Don't "Walk the Talk": Understanding the Environmental Values/Behaviour Gap in Canada

Worldwide, studies have shown increases in environmental values and beliefs over the past four decades. However, in few cases have researchers observed parallel increases in environmentally-supportive behaviour (ESB). In fact, the gap between environmental values and ESB is of growing concern for both academics and practitioners. We explored ‘the environmental values-behaviour gap’ through a nationwide survey in Canada (n=1664). Approximately 72% of respondents ‘self-report’ a gap between their intentions and their actions. We explore three categories of explanatory variables to account for the gap: individual, household, and societal. The descriptive analysis presented here provides a better understanding of why good intentions do not always translate into environmentally supportive behaviour. We demonstrate the relative importance of the three categories of constraint variables.

[1]  R. Dunlap,et al.  The “New Environmental Paradigm” , 1978 .

[2]  Dorceta E. Taylor.  Blacks and the Environment , 1989 .

[3]  V. Plumwood.  Nature, Self, and Gender: Feminism, Environmental Philosophy, and the Critique of Rationalism , 1991, Hypatia.

[4]  S. Schwartz.  Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries , 1992 .

[5]  Catriona Sandilands.  On "Green" Consumerism: Environmental Privatization and "Family Values" , 1993 .

[6]  L. Derksen,et al.  The social context of recycling. , 1993 .

[7]  P. Stern,et al.  Value Orientations, Gender, and Environmental Concern , 1993 .

[8]  Daniel R. Krause.  Environmental Consciousness , 1993 .

[9]  P. Stern,et al.  The Value Basis of Environmental Concern , 1994 .

[10]  M. Redclift,et al.  Social Theory and the Global Environment , 1994 .

[11]  Geoffrey Gooch,et al.  Environmental Beliefs and Attitudes in Sweden and the Baltic States , 1995 .

[12]  R. Dunlap,et al.  Global Concern for the Environment: Is Affluence a Prerequisite? , 1995 .

[13]  P. Stern,et al.  The New Ecological Paradigm in Social-Psychological Context , 1995 .

[14]  Glenda Wall.  General Versus Specific Environmental Concern , 1995 .

[15]  Thomas Dietz,et al.  A Brief Inventory of Values , 1998 .

[16]  P. Wesley Schultz,et al.  Values and Proenvironmental Behavior , 1998 .

[17]  Örjan Wiidegren,et al.  The New Environmental Paradigm and Personal Norms , 1998 .

[18]  John Thφgersen,et al.  The Ethical Consumer. Moral Norms and Packaging Choice , 1999 .

[19]  P. Schultz,et al.  VALUES AS PREDICTORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES: EVIDENCE FOR CONSISTENCY ACROSS 14 COUNTRIES , 1999 .

[20]  Axel Franzen,et al.  The Wealth of Nations and Environmental Concern , 1999 .

[21]  James Blake.  Overcoming the ‘value‐action gap’ in environmental policy: Tensions between national policy and local experience , 1999 .

[22]  Dorceta E. Taylor,et al.  The Rise of the Environmental Justice Paradigm , 2000 .

[23]  P. Stern.  New Environmental Theories: Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behavior , 2000 .

[24]  R. Dunlap,et al.  Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale , 2000 .

[25]  S. Beder.  Trading the Earth: The politics behind tradeable pollution rights , 2001 .

[26]  Daniel R. Williams,et al.  Demographic Influences on Environmental Value Orientations and Normative Beliefs About National Forest Management , 2001 .

[27]  P. Maiteny,et al.  Mind in the Gap: Summary of research exploring 'inner' influences on pro-sustainability learning and behaviour , 2002 .

[28]  L. Rogers,et al.  Gaps in Mind: Problems in environmental knowledge-behaviour modelling research , 2002 .

[29]  A. Kollmuss,et al.  Mind the Gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? , 2002 .

[30]  D. Tindall,et al.  Activism and Conservation Behavior in an Environmental Movement: The Contradictory Effects of Gender , 2003 .

[31]  Midori Aoyagi-Usui,et al.  Pro-environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: An International Comparison , 2003 .

[32]  A. Heisz,et al.  Working Hours in Canada and the United States , 2003 .

[33]  P. Boxall,et al.  The role of social psychological and social structural variables in environmental activism: an example of the forest sector ☆ , 2003 .

[34]  H. K. Cordell,et al.  Ethnic Variation in Environmental Belief and Behavior , 2004 .

[35]  P. Wesley Schultz,et al.  Values and their Relationship to Environmental Concern and Conservation Behavior , 2005 .

[36]  George Lakoff,et al.  Thinking points : communicating our American values and vision : a progressive's handbook , 2006 .

[37]  L. Steg,et al.  Value Orientations and Environmental Beliefs in Five Countries , 2007 .

[38]  S. Potter,et al.  The adoption of cleaner vehicles in the UK: exploring the consumer attitude–action gap , 2007 .

[39]  Stewart Barr,et al.  Factors Influencing Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors , 2007 .

[40]  P. Chisnall.  Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method , 2007, Journal of Advertising Research.

[41]  Glenda Wall.  Barriers to Individual Environmental Action: The Influence of Attitudes and Social Experiences† , 2008 .

[42]  Bonita L. McFarlane,et al.  Rural-Urban Differences in Environmental Concern in Canada. , 2009 .