recycling and other conservation behaviours

Question 1

what are conservstion behaviours?

Answer 1

conservation behaviours are any behaviours that minimise damage to the environment.
light greens- concerned with individual level action
dark greens- want societal change

Question 2

what influences recycling behaviour?

Answer 2

situational factors- availability of recycling facilities
individual factors- percieved cost vs benefits, attitudes towards recycling, social factors e.g peer pressure

need to be aware of situational and individual obstacles

Question 3

what is azjen’s theory of planned behaviour?

Answer 3

believes changing thinking is needed for changing behaviour. behaviours are the result of behavioural intentions.

Question 4

what does azjen believe behaviours are influenced by?

Answer 4

• attitudes towards the behaviour
• subjective norms
• perceived behavioural control

Question 5

what does the theory of planned behaviour suggest?

Answer 5

attitude must be changed before behaviour can be changed, but behaviourists say this is unnecessary.

Question 6

what does skinner suggest about positive reinforcement?

Answer 6

positive reinforcement is more effective than punishment as it encourages the desired behaviour, rather than just discouraging undesirable ones.

Question 7

operant conditioning and conservation

Answer 7

primary reinforcers- things that are naturally reinforcing in themselves
secondary reinforces- become reinforcers from their association with primary reinforcers

Question 8

strategies to encourage recycling

Answer 8

anticedent- occur before the behaviour they are trying to change, such as information campaigns to change attitudes
consequent- occur after the behaviour , such as deposits for returning bottles and fines for littering

Question 9

antecedent strategies- information campaigns

Answer 9

based on the idea that it is a lack of knowledge holding people back from acting. could be about importance of issue or action they take.
studies have shown education does not seem to be enough. heberlein (1973) found information did not change energy-saving behaviour.

Question 10

what is the yale model of persuasion?

Answer 10

hoveland developed this, and said four things are needed for persuasive communication

Question 11

yale model of persuasion- the source

Answer 11

needs to be credible, attractive and trustworthy

Question 12

yale model of persuasion- the message

Answer 12

well-educated audiences need both sides of the argument. less well-educated need only one for optimum persuasion. should not be too fear arousing.

Question 13

yale model of persuasion- the recipient

Answer 13

if the audience is already conmitted to an existing position, smaller attitude changes should be attempted. if the audience does not have strong views, greater changes can be sought.

Question 14

yale model of persuasion- the situation

Answer 14

informal groups are more effective, as in group contextx participants can be more easily required to make a commitment

Question 15

what are the three stages to an effective communication?

Answer 15

attention, comprehension, acceptance of the message

Question 16

antecedent strategies- prompts

Answer 16

usually signs to trigger desired behaviours.
attractive and unusual prompts can be very effective- gum posters in bournemouth.
studies have shown polite messages are more effective- harder messages seem to encourage people to resist.

Question 17

antecedent strategies- pledges

Answer 17

involves getting a commitment from people to change their behaviour.
this can be particularly effective if people outwardly signal their commitment- badges, stickers.

Question 18

consequent strategies- positive reinforcement

Answer 18

shown to be highly effective. in 1971 oregon became the first state to pay 5c for every drink container people returned.
return rate rose to 90%- reduced litter and improver resource conservation.

Question 19

consequent strategies- punishment

Answer 19

government tends to fall back on this method- fines.
doesn’t necessarily work- a study in israel fined parents who were late picking up children from daycare.
increased the number of latecomers- parents began to see it as the ‘price’ of keeping their children longer.
suggests fines won’t necessarily change behaviour in intended ways.

Question 20

consequent strategies- feedback

Answer 20

evidence that this can increase recycling.
studies have shown that keeping people informed about their recycling efforts, or energy usage can encourage them to make changes or maintain their modified behaviour.

Question 21

what did lord (1994) aim to investigate the effectiveness of?

Answer 21

• two different message approaches- positive/negative.

- three different source strategies- advertising appeals, publicity news, personal appeals.

Question 22

what was lords (1994) sample?

Answer 22

140 households in north-eastern US community served by a kerbside recycling service
quota sampling used to match demographic diversity

Question 23

what was lords (1994) method?

Answer 23

student researchers discretely recorded the contents of household bins on collection day. looked at the number of items and categories, and left 1/6 stimulus messages on the front door the next day.

Question 24

what were the different conditions in lords (1994) study?

Answer 24

positive/negative
advertisement/newspaper article/personal letter
control

Question 25

what happened after the stimulus message?

Answer 25

the researchers observed recycling again the following week and looked at the behavioural impact. delivered questionnaire to see if attitudes/beliefs had changed.

Question 26

what did lords (1994) find?

Answer 26

• significant increase in the number of recycling categories and total number of items
• positive message expressed a more favourable attitude towards recycling, and a stronger belief in statements that supported that message as their reasons for participating

Question 27

what else did lords (1994) find?

Answer 27

• advertising was the best way to increase belief in the positively framed claims
• greatest behavioural change came from a negative personal letter

Question 28

what did lords (1994) conclude?

Answer 28

using a combination of techniques is better. using positive and negative messages provides attitudinal benefits and behavioural benefits.
- positive media messages and negatively-framed personal letters is most effective

Question 29

techniques to increase recycling or other conservation behaviour

Answer 29

• antecedent strategies
• consequent strategies
• behavioural or cognitive techniques
• change attitude and behaviour to match. festinger (1957) found that a conflict between behaviour and expressed attitudes causes cognitive dissonance.