2020/08/19 by Nadja Zeiske, Leonie Venhoeven, Linda Steg +1 · 77 citations
Environmental Science · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Developmental psychology #Energy (signal processing) #Environmental Education and Sustainability #Identity (music) #Mathematics #Norm (philosophy) #Normative #Personal identity #Political science #Psychology #Self-concept #Social psychology #Value (mathematics)
paper · doi:10.1177/0013916520950266
published in Environment and Behavior 53(10), 1118-1139 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2020/08/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Environmental problems could be reduced if individuals act pro-environmentally. Typically, studies have examined factors explaining pro-environmental behavior among adults, but not among children. As children are the future generations that must meet the targets set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, it is important to understand which factors influence their engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, such as their energy saving behavior. In two correlational studies among primary and secondary school children ( n study1 = 69, n study2 = 958), we tested if normative considerations proposed by the Value-Identity-Personal Norm (VIP) model can explain children’s self-reported energy-saving behaviors. Our results revealed that in line with research among adults, children’s biospheric values were related to their energy-saving self-identity, in turn associated with their personal norms to save energy. Furthermore, we found partial support for the proposed relationship between the variables of the VIP model and a range of self-reported energy-saving behaviors.