Determinants of pro-environmental behavior: A comparison of university students and staff from diverse faculties at a Swiss University

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2020-09, Vol.268, p.121864, Article 121864
• Main Authors: Hansmann, Ralph, Laurenti, Rafael, Mehdi, Tarik, Binder, Claudia R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon-neutral university; Green self-identity; Perceived behavioral control; Pro-environmental behavior; Students; Theory of planned behavior
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121864

In the context of an initiative to become a carbon neutral campus, an online survey (N = 1864) of students, scientists, and administrative and technical staff of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) was conducted to measure pro-environmental behaviors and potentially influential factors. Female gender, age, and position (from bachelor’s student, master’s student, doctoral student, postdoc/senior scientist to professor) showed a significant positive correlation with positive behaviors as measured by a pro-environmental behavior scale developed for this study. Excluded from the academic position ranking were the members of technical and administrative staff, who displayed the highest level of pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, the level of pro-environmental behavior was generally higher among members of strongly environmentally-oriented university subsections as compared to other sections. Based on previous research and theories on environmental behavior, such as the theory of planned behavior, a predictive model including psychological, structural, and demographic variables was developed and accounted for 44% of the variance of pro-environmental behavior scores. Among psychological variables, the strongest positive influence was observed for green self-identity. Willingness to sacrifice, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and perceived effects were also significantly positively related to positive behavior. Future behavioral decision-making models should consider these variables accordingly. The position of the participants was significantly positively correlated with green self-identity, suggesting positive education and socialization effects, but negatively correlated with perceived behavioral control, pointing to practical constraints coincident with professional seniority. •An integrative model is applied to environmental behavior of university members.•Green identity was the strongest psychological predictor of environmental behavior.•Positive environmental behaviors increased with higher education level of students.•Technical and administrative staff displayed highly positive environmental behavior.•Female positive behavior surplus was confirmed in a technology-oriented university.