Environmental topic 3 - recycling and other conservation behaviour

Question 1

Background - Ajzen - theory of planned behaviour

Answer 1

• behaviour is influenced by our intention to perform behaviour. individuals intention to recycle - as demonstrated by image

Question 2

Key research - Lord - aim, sample and procedure

Answer 2

aim: effectiveness of different ways of trying to persuade people to recycle their waste
Sample: quota sampling - 140 households data collected and matched demographic diversity of the area
Procedure:
- student observers recorded the contents of each household recycling and the number of items
- then household given positively or negatively framed message by advertisement, newspaper report or personal message
- collection day, following week observation repeated
- questionnaire then delivered with likert and semantic scales - demographic information

Question 3

Key research - Lord - results and conclusion

Answer 3

Results:
- significant difference between weeks, compared to no change in the control group
- positive message - more favourable attitude to recycling, compared to negative
- advert helped positive message recycling
- More people recycled from the negative condition from the personal messages
conclusions:
- combinations of strategies could affect results
- when promoting recycling positive messages should be used in the media

Question 4

Key research - Lord - evaluation

Answer 4

Strengths:
- quasi-high ecological validity
- quantitative data
Weaknesses:
- Unethical - lack of protection, however weren’t decieved and confidentiality in surveys
- independent measures - didn’t see other conditions and affecting results
- social desirability bias - self-reports
- ethnocentric - individual reactions
- Nature debate

Question 5

Application - Antecedent strategies and Luyben and Bailey

Answer 5

• occur before the behaviour, attempting to change
  Luyben and Bailey: increased the number of newspaper recycling facilities, 52% increase

Question 6

Application - Baca - Motes

Answer 6

• a commitment to a pledge to change behaviour - ‘cognitive dissonance’
  Baca - Motes:
• reusing towels in a hotel for a month
• some guests were given card that stated hotel’s commitment to recycling, while others given a ‘friend of the earth’ badge - public declaration
  Results: those with badge are 25% more likely to reuse one towel
  40% more likely to reuse than control group with no commitment
• that a public declaration can make more commitments and engage in conservation behaviours

Question 7

Application - De Leon and Fuqua

Answer 7

Consequent strategies - after the behaviour has taken place - positive reinforcement
De Leon and Fuqua:
- asked households to sign a letter making a public commitment to recycling and publish the name in the newspaper (commitment group)
- others received weekly feedback on recycling paper generated by their group (feedback only group)
- others received combination - of intervention and control group
results:
- feedback increased weight of paper by 25%, combined 40%
- other groups didn’t show significant change - providing feedback increases public commitment to recycling