Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature
Past research offered evidence that cosmopolitan individuals behave more pro-environmentally. The current study systematically examined two mechanisms explaining why. One the one hand, cosmopolitan individuals acquire knowledge about global challenges concerning environmental crises and become aware...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138343 |
| _version_ | 1826126574518272000 |
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| author | Ito, Kenichi Leung, Angela K.-Y. Huang, Tengjiao |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Ito, Kenichi Leung, Angela K.-Y. Huang, Tengjiao |
| author_sort | Ito, Kenichi |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Past research offered evidence that cosmopolitan individuals behave more pro-environmentally. The current study systematically examined two mechanisms explaining why. One the one hand, cosmopolitan individuals acquire knowledge about global challenges concerning environmental crises and become aware of mitigating strategies. On the other hand, cosmopolitan individuals extend their prosociality beyond humankind and develop an emotional affinity toward the natural environment. We set out to provide the first empirical support for these cognitive and emotive pathways accounting for why cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more environmentally friendly. We recruited a total of 1,159 participants to systematically investigate the simultaneous mediation of cognitive and emotive characteristics of cosmopolitan individuals on their commitment to and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). The results from both the large community study (a Singaporean sample; N = 959) and the replication study (an American sample; N = 200) revealed that cosmopolitan orientation fostered both the acquisition of knowledge and emotional affinity toward nature, while emotional affinity was a stronger predictor for commitment to and frequency of PEBs. Theoretical and practical implications for a nuanced understanding of the motivational value of the cognitive and emotive pathways on PEBs are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:54:53Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/138343 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:54:53Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1383432023-03-05T15:33:53Z Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature Ito, Kenichi Leung, Angela K.-Y. Huang, Tengjiao School of Social Sciences Social sciences::Psychology Cosmopolitan Orientation Pro-environmentalism Past research offered evidence that cosmopolitan individuals behave more pro-environmentally. The current study systematically examined two mechanisms explaining why. One the one hand, cosmopolitan individuals acquire knowledge about global challenges concerning environmental crises and become aware of mitigating strategies. On the other hand, cosmopolitan individuals extend their prosociality beyond humankind and develop an emotional affinity toward the natural environment. We set out to provide the first empirical support for these cognitive and emotive pathways accounting for why cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more environmentally friendly. We recruited a total of 1,159 participants to systematically investigate the simultaneous mediation of cognitive and emotive characteristics of cosmopolitan individuals on their commitment to and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). The results from both the large community study (a Singaporean sample; N = 959) and the replication study (an American sample; N = 200) revealed that cosmopolitan orientation fostered both the acquisition of knowledge and emotional affinity toward nature, while emotional affinity was a stronger predictor for commitment to and frequency of PEBs. Theoretical and practical implications for a nuanced understanding of the motivational value of the cognitive and emotive pathways on PEBs are discussed. National Research Foundation (NRF) Accepted version This research was supported in part by the grant from the National Research Foundation Singapore (BSEWWT2017_04) awarded to the first author. 2020-05-03T14:08:26Z 2020-05-03T14:08:26Z 2020 Journal Article Ito, K., Leung, A. K. & Huang, T. (2020). Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 68, 101395-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101395 0272-4944 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138343 10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101395 2-s2.0-85079125461 68 101395 en BSEWWT2017_04 Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.21979/N9/Z3BMQY © 2020 Elsevier. All rights reserved. This paper was published in Journal of Environmental Psychology and is made available with permission of Elsevier. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Psychology Cosmopolitan Orientation Pro-environmentalism Ito, Kenichi Leung, Angela K.-Y. Huang, Tengjiao Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| title | Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| title_full | Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| title_fullStr | Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| title_short | Why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro-environmentally committed? The mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| title_sort | why do cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more pro environmentally committed the mediating pathways via knowledge acquisition and emotional affinity toward nature |
| topic | Social sciences::Psychology Cosmopolitan Orientation Pro-environmentalism |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138343 |
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