The personal and the social: Twin contributors to climate action

Identifying predictors of environmentally significant behaviors (ESBs) can inform interventions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Most past research, and the theories that shape it, focus on factors residing within individuals rather than within their social context. This paper argues for greater emphasis on social variables, as complements to person-level variables, in predicting ESBs. A sample of 2868 Australian survey panel members completed an online questionnaire containing measures of five personal variables, five social variables, and four types of ESBs. All predictors were positively associated with all ESBs. Controlling for sociodemographic and person-level variables, the block of social predictors explained unique variance in all criteria, especially in a measure of pro-environmental behavior. The strongest predictors were personal norm and community involvement. The social variables also had indirect and moderating effects. Better understanding, and improved interventions, can come from closer analysis of the roles of social variables in shaping ESBs.