When and how pro-environmental attitudes turn into behavior: The role of costs, benefits, and self-control

Despite a strong consensus about humanity's responsibility for climate change, many people fail to behave in line with their pro-environmental attitudes, and the question of how to overcome this environmental attitude-behavior gap remains a puzzle. To address this lacuna, the present research provides further insights into motivational, dispositional, and structural factors underlying pro-environmental behavior. Based on a decision-task with actual environmental consequences (n = 1,536), we show that pro-environmental attitudes are more predictive of pro-environmental behavior when personal costs are low or environmental benefits are high. Importantly, self-control helps people to act in line with their attitudes, suggesting that self-control is a crucial trait for protecting people's long-term pro-environmental goals. We propose that mitigation strategies should take into account the motivational, dispositional, and structural complexity associated with pro-environmental decisions.