Cognitive Consistency and Environmental Action

This research shows that cognitive consistency applies to environmental attitudes and behavior. Most individuals who were observed to engage in a proenvironmental behavior (purchasing lead-free gasoline) had two consistent cognitions—a belief that their behavior was economically expedient and a feeling of personal obligation. Those who held both beliefs and behaved consistently reported greater social support and more supporting beliefs than those who manifested cognitive inconsistency. They also showed a greater behavioral commitment to purchasing lead-free. These data suggest that cognitions are organized as opinion molecules and that behavior is consistent with attitudes. This attitude-behavior consistency is more likely to be observed when behavioral choice is unconstrained, as it was when the data were collected in 1973, before government regulations limited consumer choices.