Comparative Study Between the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Value-Belief-Norm Model Regarding the Environment, on Spanish Housewives' Recycling Behavior

• Published in: Journal of applied social psychology Vol. 42; no. 11; pp. 2797 - 2833
• Main Authors: Aguilar-Luzón, María del Carmen, García-Martínez, José Miguel Ángel, Calvo-Salguero, Antonia, Salinas, José María
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2012; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Behavior; Norms; Recycling; Social psychology; Theory
• ISSN: 0021-9029; 1559-1816
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00962.x

Environmental behaviors have been analyzed from different theoretical models. The theory of planned behavior emphasizes the attitudinal aspects associated with behavior, while the value–belief–norm model regarding the environment focuses on the importance of moral components when setting environmental behaviors in motion. The objective of this study was to analyze both models, comparing both their degree of fit and their predictive power regarding recycling behavior. To do so, we used a sample made up of 154 Spanish housewives. The results indicated that despite the fact that the theory of planned behavior is a general model for predicting and explaining behavior, it has a greater degree of fit and greater capacity to predict recycling behavior than the value–belief–norm model regarding the environment.