The Prediction of Household Recycling of Newspapers: The Role of Attitudes, Intentions, and Situational Factors
Boldero, J. (1995). The prediction of household recycling of newspapers: The role of attitudes, intentions, and situational factors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 5, 440-462.
Tested I. Ajzen and T. J. Madden's (see PA, Vol 75:10653) theory of planned behavior for observed household newspaper recycling. The effects of recycling in the past, individual's evaluations of the local council's recycling service, the number of newspapers purchased during an average week, individual's beliefs that they buy enough newspapers to justify recycling, and perceptions of insufficient storage space were included as potential predictor variables. 254 undergraduates asked 1 member of their household to participate in the study and acted as an observer for a 2-wk period. It was found that, although attitudes and intentions to recycle household newspapers were significant predictors of recycling behavior, factors associated with the inconvenience of recycling and the programs provided by borough councils, as well as respondents' past recycling behavior, were also significant predictors.