Understanding Attitudes and Pro-Environmental Behaviors in a Chilean Community

Nicolás C. Bronfman, Pamela C. Cisternas, Esperanza López-Vázquez, Cristóbal De la Maza and Juan Carlos Oyanedel
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Nicolás C. Bronfman: Engineering Sciences Department, Universidad Andres Bello, Avenida República 237, Santiago 8370146, Chile
Pamela C. Cisternas: Engineering Sciences Department, Universidad Andres Bello, Avenida República 237, Santiago 8370146, Chile
Esperanza López-Vázquez: Interdisciplinary Psychology Research Center, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Pico de Orizaba No. 1 Col. Volcanes, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62350, México
Cristóbal De la Maza: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Juan Carlos Oyanedel: Public Policy and Management Department, Administration and Economics Faculty, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 8370146, Chile

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: Environmental protection and restoration are some of the major challenges faced by our society. To address this problem, it is fundamental to understand pro-environmental behaviors in the population, as well as the factors that determine them. There are, however, very few studies conducted in Latin America that are focused in understanding the environmental behavior of its citizens. The main goal of this research was to study the environmental behaviors of a Chilean community and identify the factors that determine them. To that end, a diverse set of environmental behaviors (power and water conservation, environmentally-aware consumer behavior, biodiversity protection, rational automobile use and ecological waste management) and sociodemographic and attitudinal factors—based on the VBN model—were evaluated. Survey data was obtained from a statistically representative sample ( N = 1537) in Santiago, Chile. Our results suggest that several participants displayed tendencies that favor more responsible environmental behaviors, with high environmental concern, and demonstrating their ample awareness of the consequences of failing to protect the environment. Nevertheless, the highest average scores of environmental behavior were related to low cost behaviors and those that imposed the fewest behavioral restrictions. In global terms, we concluded that the youngest subjects in the lowest socioeconomic group obtained the lowest scores across the pro-environmental behavior spectrum.

Keywords: environmental behavior; pro-environmental behavior; environmental management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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