Barriers to Pro-Environmental Behavior Change: A Review of Qualitative Research

Albina Dioba (), Valentina Kroker, Siegfried Dewitte and Florian Lange
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Albina Dioba: Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark
Valentina Kroker: Behavioral Economics and Engineering Group, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Siegfried Dewitte: Behavioral Economics and Engineering Group, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Florian Lange: Behavioral Economics and Engineering Group, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: In recent decades, reports of deforestation, mass extinctions, biodiversity loss, and emergencies like floods and droughts have clearly highlighted the impact of human activities on climate change. This underscores the need for significant lifestyle changes to mitigate this impact. Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) change involves adopting actions that protect the environment and reducing environmentally harmful activities to promote sustainability. While qualitative research may provide unique insights into PEB barriers that are challenging to capture through quantitative methods, reports of qualitative studies are scattered across different literatures with little integration. With the present review, we bring together qualitative studies on PEB barriers and examine whether those studies reveal barriers compatible with existing barrier frameworks from environmental psychology. We identified 38 qualitative studies on barriers to PEB change. Our analysis revealed that most of the barriers to individual pro-environmental action identified in qualitative studies align with environmental psychology frameworks. These barriers were experienced not only by individuals in their role as consumer or citizen, but also by community-level actors (e.g., seeking to implement pro-environmental policies) and industrial decision-makers (e.g., aiming to reduce the ecological footprint of their business activities). Our findings underscore the multifaceted nature of barriers to PEB change and emphasize the importance of addressing structural and institutional factors alongside individual-level interventions.

Keywords: pro-environmental behavior; behavior change; qualitative research; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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