A systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between pro-environmental behaviours

An understanding of the relationships between pro-environmental behaviours can enable researchers to develop more holistic approaches to encourage sustainable practices and support the design of interventions that can target multiple behaviours. The present review examines the relationships between different pro-environmental behaviours. We searched Scopus, PsycInfo, and GreenFILE, conducted forward and backward citation searches, and contacted authors of included studies for expert recommendations. Twenty-six empirical studies that measured at least two pro-environmental behaviours at an individual or household level were included, which provided 1888 correlations between pro-environmental behaviours. Random-effects meta-analysis with Robust Variance Estimation (RVE) found a small overall effect size between pro-environmental behaviours (r = 0.16, 95 % CI = [0.08, 0.24]). Associations were observed both between behaviours from distinct domains of pro-environmental behaviour (e.g., energy conservation and water conservation), and within the same domain (e.g., energy conservation behaviours such as turning off lights and using efficient appliances). Behaviours that belonged to the same general domain were more strongly correlated than behaviours from distinct domains (e.g., energy conservation behaviours, r = 0.24, 95 % CI = [0.06, 0.43]; resource management behaviours, r = 0.23, 95 % CI = [0.11, 0.37]). In contrast, behaviours from distinct domains showed weaker associations, such as the correlation between energy conservation and civic actions (r = 0.11, 95 % CI = [0.06, 0.16)]. These findings suggest that there may be an underlying pro-environmental behaviour factor that interventions could target with the potential for effectiveness across multiple behaviours,. This approach may increase intervention efficiency by targeting multiple behaviours simultaneously, maximising environmental impact while reducing resource expenditure.