Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions
Two experiments examine the interplay of injunctive and descriptive norms on intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In Experiment 1, Australian participants were exposed to supportive or unsupportive group descriptive and injunctive norms about energy conservation. Results revealed that...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Academic Press
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44314 |
| _version_ | 1848756965392515072 |
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| author | Smith, J. Louis, W. Terry, Deborah Greenaway, K. Clarke, M. Cheng, X. |
| author_facet | Smith, J. Louis, W. Terry, Deborah Greenaway, K. Clarke, M. Cheng, X. |
| author_sort | Smith, J. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Two experiments examine the interplay of injunctive and descriptive norms on intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In Experiment 1, Australian participants were exposed to supportive or unsupportive group descriptive and injunctive norms about energy conservation. Results revealed that a conflict between the group-level injunctive and descriptive norm was associated with weaker behavioral intentions: The beneficial effects of a supportive injunctive norm were undermined when presented with an unsupportive descriptive norm. Experiment 2 replicated this effect in both a Western (UK) and non-Western (China) context, and found that the extent to which norms were aligned or not determined intentions even after controlling for attitudes, perceptions of control, and interpersonal-level injunctive and descriptive norms. These experiments demonstrate that conflict between injunctive and descriptive norms leads to weaker intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior, highlighting the need to consider the interplay between injunctive and descriptive norms to understand how norms influence behavioral intentions. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:20:35Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-44314 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:20:35Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Academic Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-443142017-09-13T14:29:23Z Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions Smith, J. Louis, W. Terry, Deborah Greenaway, K. Clarke, M. Cheng, X. Two experiments examine the interplay of injunctive and descriptive norms on intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In Experiment 1, Australian participants were exposed to supportive or unsupportive group descriptive and injunctive norms about energy conservation. Results revealed that a conflict between the group-level injunctive and descriptive norm was associated with weaker behavioral intentions: The beneficial effects of a supportive injunctive norm were undermined when presented with an unsupportive descriptive norm. Experiment 2 replicated this effect in both a Western (UK) and non-Western (China) context, and found that the extent to which norms were aligned or not determined intentions even after controlling for attitudes, perceptions of control, and interpersonal-level injunctive and descriptive norms. These experiments demonstrate that conflict between injunctive and descriptive norms leads to weaker intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior, highlighting the need to consider the interplay between injunctive and descriptive norms to understand how norms influence behavioral intentions. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44314 10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.06.001 Academic Press restricted |
| spellingShingle | Smith, J. Louis, W. Terry, Deborah Greenaway, K. Clarke, M. Cheng, X. Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| title | Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| title_full | Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| title_fullStr | Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| title_short | Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| title_sort | congruent or conflicted? the impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44314 |