It’s not easy being green: investigating ‘radical’ pro-environmental living and high-impact Pro-Environmental Behaviour (PEB): a mixed methods study

Carr, Daniel 2024. It’s not easy being green: investigating ‘radical’ pro-environmental living and high-impact Pro-Environmental Behaviour (PEB): a mixed methods study. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Current lifestyles are significantly harming the environment, and radically reducing individuals’ emissions is crucial. This thesis explored the drivers and barriers associated with adopting ‘radical’ pro-environmental lifestyles, which are those that consist of multiple high-impact Pro-Environmental Behaviours (PEBs). The focus is on climate-concerned individuals who have adopted such lifestyles (‘radicals’) and those who have not (‘non-radicals’), as well as on the high-impact PEBs themselves. The thesis consists of three studies: Study 1 qualitatively identified key drivers among radicals, while Study 2 explored perceived barriers among non-radicals, and a comparative analysis between radicals and non-radicals revealed some potential determining factors to radical living. Study 3 then examined these potential determinants empirically in a UK representative sample, in addition to some factors suggested in previous literature to be important in understanding PEB. The goal was to determine how much they contributed to predicting some specific high-impact PEBs and how they differed between radicals and non-radicals. The thesis found that while climate change concern is of foundational importance to adopting radical lifestyles and high-impact PEBs, concern alone was not enough to spark action. However, when concern about climate change was paired with numerous other determining factors, this seemed to encourage ‘tipping points’ by which people adopted high-impact PEBs that cumulated into radical lifestyles. These potential determinants included: perceived convenience of radical living and high-impact PEBs, in addition to the perceived cost (finance) of these behaviours, experiencing feelings of environmental guilt, and having a willingness to adopt high-impact PEBs and radical lifestyles, being influenced by descriptive social norms, and having a stronger environmental identity. Additionally, those who were younger and had a higher income tended to adopt more high-impact PEBs. Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) was also found to be relevant but less useful in predicting high-impact PEBs and radical living within this thesis, as were injunctive social norms. The findings also underscore the need for systemic changes to support individual actions and address barriers to adopting high-impact PEBs and radical lifestyles. Overall, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding radical pro-environmental living and understanding the potential determinants of some specific high-impact PEBs.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 January 2025
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2025 16:27
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/174938

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