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PROMOTING PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR AMONG
UNIVERSITY DORMITORY RESIDENTS
by
Nicole Diana Sintov
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements of the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PSYCHOLOGY)
August 2011
Copyright 2011 Nicole Diana Sintov
Object Description
| Title | Promoting pro-environmental behavior among university dormitory residents |
| Author | Sintov, Nicole Diana |
| Author email | nsintov@gmail.com;nsintov@yahoo.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Psychology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-04-11 |
| Date submitted | 2011-07-20 |
| Date approved | 2011-07-20 |
| Restricted until | 2011-07-20 |
| Date published | 2011-07-20 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Prescott, Carol A. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Miller, Norman Mazmanian, Daniel Spruijt-Metz, Donna Gatz, Margaret |
| Abstract | The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a competition-based intervention in promoting pro-environmental behavior (PEB) among university dormitory residents. The study used a prospective quasi-experimental intervention design with a control group. The intervention, which included appeals and a group-level incentive, was implemented using a building-versus-building competition framework. Additionally, a website was developed with access to different supplementary intervention content assigned by building residence. Participants completed baseline and follow-up self-report surveys regarding energy use behaviors and key constructs derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Norm Activation Model. A total of 298 undergraduate students participated in the first survey, and 225 also took part in the follow-up survey. No significant effects of the intervention were found for self-reported PEB. Changes in electricity use between the baseline and competition phases ranged from a decrease of 7.1% to an increase of 3.1% among the seven intervention buildings. Mixed level models based on electricity data showed that when adjusting for temperature, intervention buildings used significantly more electricity during the intervention phase relative to the control phase during the project year (2009) and the preceding year (2008). A secondary objective of the project was to investigate mechanisms of change in PEB by examining relationships among TPB and NAM constructs and investigating which constructs explain change in PEB. To address this objective, structural equation modeling was applied to the self-report data from both surveys. Results provided preliminary evidence supporting the extension of the TPB to addressing change in PEB. Results also indicated that changes in intentions were most important for explaining changes in PEB. A final aim of this project was to evaluate the influences of impression management and item order effects on self-reported PEB. Higher impression management scores predicted higher PEB scores. Weak evidence of item order effects were also observed. These findings suggest that social desirability biases should be considered in designing surveys, conducting analyses, and interpreting study findings. Understanding how interventions work to change PEB and its determinants, and how to measure and examine these processes reliably, remain important avenues for future research. |
| Keyword | pro-environmental behavior; intervention; energy use; energy conservation; electricity use; electricity conservation; self-report bias; theory of planned behavior; norm activation model; behavior change |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Sintov, Nicole Diana |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-SintovNico-137.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | PROMOTING PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR AMONG UNIVERSITY DORMITORY RESIDENTS by Nicole Diana Sintov A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PSYCHOLOGY) August 2011 Copyright 2011 Nicole Diana Sintov |
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