The motivation–impact gap in pro-environmental clothing consumption

Kristian S. Nielsen (), Cameron Brick, Wilhelm Hofmann, Tina Joanes, Florian Lange and Wencke Gwozdz
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Kristian S. Nielsen: University of Cambridge
Cameron Brick: University of Amsterdam
Wilhelm Hofmann: Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum
Tina Joanes: Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Florian Lange: KU Leuven
Wencke Gwozdz: Justus-Liebig-University Giessen

Nature Sustainability, 2022, vol. 5, issue 8, 665-668

Abstract: Abstract Accurate models of pro-environmental behaviour can support environmental sustainability. Previous studies identifying the psychological predictors of pro-environmental behaviour rarely accounted for environmental impact. We studied the greenhouse gas emissions of clothing purchasing across four countries. Clothing purchasing is responsible for 2–3% of global emissions and severe, local environmental degradation. We found, using multiple regression analyses, that psychological factors like attitudes and personal norms strongly predicted a common self-reported behaviour scale of clothing purchasing but only weakly predicted clothing-related greenhouse gas emissions. This result challenges widespread inferences using pro-environmental behaviour scales and suggests that psychological factors may be a poor predictor of clothing-related environmental impact.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-022-00888-7

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