Relationships between value orientations, self-determined motivational types and pro-environmental behavioural intentions

We examined the predictive power of egoistic altruistic and biospheric value orientations and six types of self-determined motivations (i e intrinsic motivation integrated regulation identified regulation introjected regulation external regulation and amotivation) toward acting pro-environmentally for explaining two types of pro-environmental intentions in two questionnaire studies among student samples (N = 304 and N = 520) The two pro-environmental intentional measures Included choosing a car based on environmental performance and donating to an environmental organisation Values were more predictive of pro-environmental intentions than were self-determined motivational types although these differences were not always statistically significant Furthermore we explored how value orientations are related to self-determined motivational types The more respondents were altruistically and biospherically oriented the more they were self-determined to act pro-environmentally When respondents endorsed egoistic values they were less self-determined towards acting in a pro-environmental way When altruistic and especially biospheric values were important predictors of pro-environmental intentions stronger types of self-determined motivations were also important to explain intentions And when egoistic values contributed uniquely to the explanation of pro-environmental intentions amotivation and external regulation (le less self-determined motivational types) were most relevant for explaining intentions (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved