How do implicit materialism and postmaterialism affect proenvironmental behavior?

• Kexin Zhou

  Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology

• Lijuan Ye

  Nanjing University

• Liuna Geng

  Nanjing University

• Qiaoxin Xu

  Nanjing University

In this study, we explored implicit materialistic and postmaterialistic values, focusing on the relationship between these values and environmental behaviors. Participants were 60 Chinese students, who completed via self-report the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the Environmental Behaviors Questionnaire, along with a situation simulation experiment to measure their actual environmental behavior. Our results provide the first evidence for an application of the IAT in research focused on materialism and postmaterialism. We found that implicit postmaterialism significantly predicted proenvironmental behavioral intention in a Chinese context, and implicit materialism was a strong predictor of actual proenvironmental behaviors (i.e., avoidance of paper waste). These results indicate that, for Chinese people, materialism is an important motivation for their actual proenvironmental behaviors.

1. Kexin Zhou, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology
   Ecological Center
2. Lijuan Ye, Nanjing University
   Department of Psychology
3. Liuna Geng, Nanjing University
   Department of Psychology
4. Qiaoxin Xu, Nanjing University
   Department of Psychology

• PDF
  (USD 29)