Investigating the effect of eco-anxiety and nature-relatedness on pro-environmental behaviour intentions

• Main Author: Ong, Shi Qing
• Other Authors: Kenichi Ito
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/149644
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The understanding of factors that predict and motivate pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) intentions is important in order to encourage engagement in PEB through environmental messaging. The present study has investigated the effects of two such variables, namely ecoanxiety and nature-relatedness, on PEB intentions, with results drawn from a sample of 162 university students and recent graduates living in Singapore. Specifically, it addresses (i) the relationship between eco-anxiety and PEB intentions; (ii) the relationship between naturerelatedness and PEB intentions; and (iii) the interaction between eco-anxiety and naturerelatedness and its effect on PEB intentions. While the current literature provides evidence for these relationships and how PEB are motivated on the individual level, these relationships in the Singapore context are not well understood. As these variables and its mechanisms are increasingly being used to inform environmental messaging in Singapore to mitigate climate change, it is important to better understand how these variables work on local individuals. Findings from the present study revealed that gender did not have a significant effect on PEB intentions. Furthermore, eco-anxiety and nature-relatedness are both significantly and positively correlated with PEB intentions, but nature-relatedness is a stronger predictor than eco-anxiety when both were included in the same model. However, no interaction effect between the two predictors were found. The results support the need for a theoretical framework that is integrative of current frameworks and are informative for how environmental messaging in Singapore can be improved to increase engagement in PEB.