Social meaning and social context of environmentally-relevant behaviour: Shopping, wrapping, and disposing

A social and ecological psychological approach to environmentally-relevant behaviour takes into account the person-environment relationship, its social and physical elements, and the social and psychological function and meaning of objects. Results from several studies are presented to demonstrate this approach at different points in the lifecycle of products. Environmentally-related attitudes influence shopping decisions if environmentally-relevant aspects of products are clearly recognizable. On the other hand, even elaborate wrapping is accepted, despite its potentially negative environmental impact if such wrapping fulfils a social function. The willingness to buy used products-as one way of extending a product's lifecycle-depends not only on price and the shopping situation, but also on some social and psychological meanings of things, such as the security they can provide and whether they serve self-presentational functions. In a study of recycling behaviours, physical settings and social structures that allow for social exchange and the establishment of social norms were better predictors of compliance with recycling rules than environmentally-related individual attitudes. (C) 1999 Academic Press.