Abstract
Persuasive messages that are tailored to target innate biases and behavioral tendencies have been shown to be effective in promoting pro-environmental behaviors. There is, however, a lack of understanding whether individuals who have different patterns of personality traits react to these stimuli differently. The present study addressed precisely this question. Persuasive pro-environmental messages were placed in a school and changes in pro-environmental intentions and related variables of the adolescents attending that school were observed. The findings show that adolescents with different patterns of personality traits are indeed differently affected by persuasive messages and people with different patterns of personality traits in general approach pro-environmental behaviors quite differently. This has important practical implications for the creation of public service announcements aimed at promoting pro-environmental behavior.
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20 June 2018
The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in Fig. 2, 3 and 4. The figure image and caption was mixed-up during typesetting. Thus, this erratum is presented to fix this error, providing the correct image and caption.
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Acknowledgements
The present study could not have been possible without the encouragement and guidance of RŽ. The author also wishes to thank AG, RJ, RM, RP, and VP for their help in organizing the research.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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The original version of this article was revised: Figure 2, 3 and 4 image and caption was mixed-up during typesetting. Thus, this erratum is presented to fix this error, providing the correct image and caption.
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Appendix 1
S1 was directed at water conservation; S2 – at recycling; S3 – at electricity conservation. The message in S1 translates to “Everyone conserves water. Don’t waste water!” S2 and S3 follow a similar pattern. The bottom text was identical for all three stimuli: “Did you know that many of pro-environmental actions are beneficial to you as well? Did you know that your efforts have a tangible positive impact on the environment? Your actions here and now matter. Most likely, as all cool people, you already care actively for the environment. If not – now is the time to start! Scan the QR code and learn more about the ways you can contribute to preserving the natural environment”
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Poškus, M.S. Normative Influence of pro-Environmental Intentions in Adolescents with Different Personality Types. Curr Psychol 39, 263–276 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9759-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9759-5