Influences on Sustainable Behavior

Abstract Environmental issues are threatening and often unpleasant to consider. On top of this, strategies to overcome environmental issues are not always apparent. Despite cognitive and emotional barriers, some people take mitigating action to confront these issues. To further understand uptake of proenvironmental behavior, individual differences in Critical Thinking Disposition and Avoidance of Negative Emotions were examined via an online survey (N = 128). As predicted, Critical Thinking Disposition positively correlates with proenvironmental behavior, and Avoidance of Negative Emotions had an inverse relationship. Critical Thinking Disposition and Avoidance of Negative Emotions predicted proenvironmental behavior using hierarchical multiple regression, even when accounting for value orientations. Indirect effects were also assessed, identifying two pathways associated with proenvironmental behavior uptake. Considering the individual differences assessed predicted proenvironmental behavior without bein...