Responsibility for envoronmental problems and the consequences of waste reduction: A test of the norm-activation model

The present study uses concepts from Schwartz's norm activation model to predict self-reported waste reduction behavior, and examines whether direct measurement of moral norms can improve the model's predictive ability. Data derived from a survey, of residents of three communities in central Illinois were analyzed to examine the relationship between residents' self-reported waste reduction behaviors, their personal and social norms related to waste reduction, ascribed responsibility for waste-related problems, and perceptions of the consequences of waste-related behaviors. Differences in the communities' solid waste infrastructures provided the opportunity to examine the effects of external conditions on norms and other concepts of the norm activation model. Survey results provided no evidence that infrastructure differences affected respondents' personal norms, and level of awareness of consequences for waste related problems. The data did reveal that ascriptions of responsibility and its interaction with personal norms were important predictors of respondents' reported behaviors. © 2003, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.