Social norms and littering – The role of personal responsibility and place attachment at a Pakistani beach

•Place attachment leverages an individual’s responsibility to not litter.•Social norms positively influence behavioral intentions via personal norms.•Social norms effectively examine anti-littering intentions in a tight culture. This research has applied an integrated norms model using place attachm...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global environmental change 2023-09, Vol.82, p.102725, Article 102725
Main Authors: Chaudhary, Abdul Haseeb, Polonsky, Michael Jay, McClaren, Nicholas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-littering behavioral intentions
Descriptive norms
Environmental pollution
global change
Injunctive norms
Pakistan
Personal norms
Place attachment
surveys
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•Place attachment leverages an individual’s responsibility to not litter.•Social norms positively influence behavioral intentions via personal norms.•Social norms effectively examine anti-littering intentions in a tight culture. This research has applied an integrated norms model using place attachment, anti-littering descriptive and injunctive norms, and anti-littering personal norms to assess anti-littering behavioral intentions in a developing country. The research uses place attachment as a moderating factor to understand the influence of social norms on anti-littering behavioral intentions which has not previously been explored in detail. After a pre-test to validate scales, a survey was conducted among visitors at a beach in Pakistan. This main survey was performed among a sample of 634 respondents to assess direct, mediated, and conditional indirect effect relationships using structural equation modelling and PROCESS model 7. Place attachment was found to strengthen the effect of descriptive norms. The influence of both social norms (i.e., descriptive and injunctive) on anti-littering behavior was only consistent when mediated by personal norms, suggesting the importance of individuals’ own responsibility. Thus, it appears that role of both place attachment and personal norms are vital in discouraging littering. This perspective has important implications because littering in public places such as beaches has been determined as a substantial environmental problem requiring solutions focused on individuals.
ISSN:0959-3780
DOI:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102725