Do Women Engage in Pro-environmental Behaviours in the Public Sphere Due to Social Expectations? The Effects of Social Norm-Based Persuasive Messages

Research has shown a higher level of pro-environmental values and attitudes for women (vs. men), but discrepancies remain regarding pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs). Thus, women tend to adopt more PEBs than men in the private sphere, whereas no differences are observed in the public sphere. This paper aims to investigate whether women’s engagement in the public sphere is linked to social expectations. To address this issue, we tested messages based on social norms with 117 men and 124 women; their purpose was to engage the participants in PEBs in public sphere. Our results show a significant difference between men and women with the injunctive norm messages, but none with the control condition and descriptive social norm messages. These results validate our hypothesis that women engage in PEBs in the public sphere due to social expectations. We discuss this result using the literature on gender and PEBs and question the role of nudges using social norms; they may increase involvement, but they also increase feelings of guilt. We finally propose future research avenues and implications for citizens and non-profit organizations.