Abstract:
The present study seeks to address the disparity between pro-environmental attitudes and actual engagement in pro-environmental behaviors by proposing a route for inducing behavioral change. Festinger's (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance and Bandura's (1977) theory of selfefficacy are combined to suggest a stronger means for motivating behavior. One hundred eleven undergraduate students at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges participated in one of six experimental conditions. Participants were primed for high or low self-efficacy beliefs and asked to either advocate for conservation, reflect upon past failures to conserve, or both advocate and reflect. Surveys assessed participants' pro-conservation and pro-environmental attitudes and selfefficacy beliefs, and various opportunities were offered to measure possible behavioral change. Past research has shown that public advocacy and private confession for a pro-social behavior can motivate behavioral change. The researchers proposed that high self-efficacy beliefs could augment pro-environmental behavior as a mechanism for dealing with hypocrisy, while low selfefficacy beliefs could inhibit pro-environmental behavior and increase negative attitudes towards conservation. None of the hypotheses was supported, but many directions for future research are offered.
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