Values and Proenvironmental Behavior: A Five-Country Survey

This multinational study examined the relationship between values, awareness of the consequences for environmental damage, ascribed responsibility, and proenvironmental behaviors. Survey data were collected from college students in Mexico (n = 187), Nicaragua (n = 78), Peru (n = 160), Spain (n = 187), and the US (n = 345). Measures included items from Schwartz's values instrument, self-reported proenvironmental behaviors, ascribed responsibility, the New Environmental Paradigm, and demographics. Regression analyses revealed a positive relationship between items within self-transcendence (especially the environment-oriented items) and proenvironmental behavior in Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, and the US. Additional analyses provided partial support for the extension of Schwartz's model of norm-activation to proenviromnental behavior.