Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Pages: 665-668

Journal: Nature Sustainability

Volume number: 5

Issue number: 8

ISSN: 2398-9629

Open access status: Green

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00888-7

Publisher: Nature Research

Abstract: 
Accurate models of pro-environmental behaviour can inform interventions to foster sustainability. This study estimates the extent to which psychological factors like attitudes and personal norms explain greenhouse gas emissions from clothing purchasing across four countries.Accurate models of pro-environmental behaviour can support environmental sustainability. Previous studies identifying the psychological predictors of pro-environmental behaviour rarely accounted for environmental impact. We studied the greenhouse gas emissions of clothing purchasing across four countries. Clothing purchasing is responsible for 2-3% of global emissions and severe, local environmental degradation. We found, using multiple regression analyses, that psychological factors like attitudes and personal norms strongly predicted a common self-reported behaviour scale of clothing purchasing but only weakly predicted clothing-related greenhouse gas emissions. This result challenges widespread inferences using pro-environmental behaviour scales and suggests that psychological factors may be a poor predictor of clothing-related environmental impact.

Harvard Citation style: Nielsen, K., Brick, C., Hofmann, W., Joanes, T., Lange, F. and Gwozdz, W. (2022) The motivation-impact gap in pro-environmental clothing consumption, Nature Sustainability, 5(8), pp. 665-668. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00888-7

APA Citation style: Nielsen, K., Brick, C., Hofmann, W., Joanes, T., Lange, F., & Gwozdz, W. (2022). The motivation-impact gap in pro-environmental clothing consumption. Nature Sustainability. 5(8), 665-668. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00888-7