Behaving Pro-Environmentally and Supporting Environmental Policy: the Common Motivational Basis of Pro-Environmental Actions

Two types of public action are necessary to mitigate climate change: behaving pro-environmentally and supporting environmental policy. Some argue that when people behave pro-environmentally, they are more likely to support environmental policy, while others suggest that behaving pro-environmentally might inhibit environmental policy support. We propose a new perspective: people who are likely to behave pro-environmentally are also likely to support environmental policies as both are based in their intrinsic pro-environmental motivation. Intrinsic pro-environmental motivation comes from within, rather than relying on external benefits or sanctions. We test our reasoning using a variety of samples (including large, cross-national samples) and methods (including questionnaire studies and field experiments). We consistently find that those who behave pro-environmentally are likely to support environmental policy too and that the stronger a person’s intrinsic pro-environmental motivation, the more likely they are to both behave pro-environmentally and support pro-environmental policy. Importantly, we find that the strength of a person’s intrinsic pro-environmental motivation might explain the relationship between behaviour and policy support. We also find that pro-environmental behaviour and environmental policy support do not necessarily need to be seen as similar for people to do both, or that reflecting on the strength of your own intrinsic pro-environmental motivation is necessary in order to act pro-environmentally. Finally, and importantly, we find no evidence that behaving pro-environmentally would inhibit environmental policy support (or vice versa). Taken together, our results suggest that people are likely to both behave pro-environmentally and support environmental policy because both are based in their intrinsic pro-environmental motivation.