Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions
Access Status
Authors
Date
2012Type
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Source Title
ISSN
Collection
Abstract
Two experiments examine the interplay of injunctive and descriptive norms on intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In Experiment 1, Australian participants were exposed to supportive or unsupportive group descriptive and injunctive norms about energy conservation. Results revealed that a conflict between the group-level injunctive and descriptive norm was associated with weaker behavioral intentions: The beneficial effects of a supportive injunctive norm were undermined when presented with an unsupportive descriptive norm. Experiment 2 replicated this effect in both a Western (UK) and non-Western (China) context, and found that the extent to which norms were aligned or not determined intentions even after controlling for attitudes, perceptions of control, and interpersonal-level injunctive and descriptive norms. These experiments demonstrate that conflict between injunctive and descriptive norms leads to weaker intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior, highlighting the need to consider the interplay between injunctive and descriptive norms to understand how norms influence behavioral intentions.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
How negative descriptive norms for healthy eating undermine the effects of positive injunctive normsStaunton, M.; Louis, W.; Smith, J.; Terry, Deborah; McDonald, R. (2014)Healthy eating intentions were assessed as a function of theory of planned behavior variables and manipulated group norm salience. Participants (n = 119) were exposed (or not) to a positive injunctive norm that their ...
-
Curtis, G.; Cowcher, E.; Greene, B.; Rundle, K.; Paull, M.; Davis, Melissa (2018)The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predicts that a combination of attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control predict intentions, and that intentions ultimately predict behavior. Previous studies have ...
-
Gilligan, C.; Thompson, K.; Bourke, J.; Kypri, K.; Stockwell, Tim (2014)Objective: Parents are a common source of alcohol for adolescent drinking. Few studies have examined the possible determinants of parental alcohol supply. We investigated the associations between parents’ supply of alcohol, ...