Leveraging the link between pro-environmental behaviour and well-being to encourage sustainable lifestyle shifts

A large body of research suggests that pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) are conducive to individual well-being. Here, we investigate whether this finding might be leveraged to encourage sustainable lifestyle shifts. We find that US adults tend to believe that most PEBs have no effect on well-being. Yet, when people do expect positive effects of PEBs, they tend to have more positive attitudes towards PEBs, stronger intentions to engage in PEBs, and actually do engage in PEBs more frequently. Additionally, we tested whether we could influence these beliefs and thereby influence these same pro-environmental outcomes. Although we found inconsistent evidence of effects on PEB intentions, and no evidence of effects on a revealed measure of PEB (i.e., visiting a website with advice about sustainability), we did find that messages about how PEB can increase well-being consistently led to more positive attitudes towards PEBs and made people more persuasive in their subsequent efforts to encourage others to live sustainably. These effects were especially pronounced among people who did not already believe that PEB improves well-being. Overall, these results underscore the importance of beliefs about how PEBs affect well-being and suggest that public messaging about that relationship might support shifts towards more sustainable lifestyles.