Differential impact of prescriptive norms in the intergenerational transmission of environmental concern in a non‐Western context: Evidence from the Philippines

Despite the global nature of environmental problems and the known cultural differences in parenting practises, there is a dearth of studies that have examined the intergenerational transmission of environmental concern in non‐Western contexts. This study investigated the interplay of prescriptive norms and interdependent self‐construal in the transmission of environmental concern among 449 parent–adolescent dyads in the Philippines. The results demonstrated that the transmission of environmental concern from parents to their adolescent children was strong across the different levels of prescriptive norms, but the transmission was more pronounced among adolescents with high levels of interdependent self‐construal. The findings also showed that intergenerational transmission of environmental concern weakens at the moderate level of prescriptive norms, and even diminishes at high levels of prescriptive norms among adolescents with moderate and low interdependent self‐construal, respectively. Implications for research, parenting, education, and national campaigns and policies for environmental sustainability are discussed.