Transcript Rational Choice - California State University San Marcos

Easy Does It:
Structural and Motivational Approaches to Changing Behavior
Wesley Schultz
Jennifer Tabanico
California State University
California State University
July 18, 2006
Presentation delivered at the 26th International Congress of Applied
Psychology, Athens, Greece. Address correspondences to: Wesley Schultz,
Department of Psychology, California State University, San Marcos, CA,
92078. USA. [email protected]. (760) 750-8045.
Environmental Behavior
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Individuals often choose to act in ways that are
intended to benefit nature.
Waste, transit, energy, water, purchasing, etc.
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90% of Americans reported engaging in simple
household environmental behaviors (Dunlap, 2000)
40% have donated money to environmental
organizations (Gallup, 2000)
98% report doing things in their homes to conserve
energy (Schultz, 2006)
See also Kaiser & Biel (2000)
Predictors of behavior
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Individual predictors (motivation)
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Demographics (age, gender, education)
Culture
Attitudes
Values
Structural predictors
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Difficulty of the behavior
Financial incentives / disincentives
Program structure
Environmental Decisions (theory)
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Attitudes -- planned behavior
Altruism and norm activation
Environmental identity
Social norms
Rational Choice
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Not widely utilized in psychological studies
Environmental Decisions (interventions)
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Interventions to change behavior typically fall into
one of three categories:
1. Educate people about what to do
2. Motivate people to act by targeting a psychological
construct (e.g., attitudes, norms, commitment)
3. Program changes to “make it easy.”
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But how do we know which type of intervention to
use?
Theory…….
Rational Choice
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Environmental behaviors are decisions.
Decisions are based on a psychological evaluation
of the costs and benefits of a behavior.
Behaviors that maximize benefits, and minimize
costs are preferred.
Rational Choice (interventions)
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If we can identify the salient costs and benefits
associated with a behavior, we should be able to
predict when an individual will act.
Useful for guiding intervention
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Costs are primarily structural
Benefits are primary motivational
Rational Choice
Barriers > Motivation = no action
Motivation
Structural
Barriers
Rational Choice
Barriers < Motivation = ACTION
Motivation
Structural
Structural
Barriers
Rational Choice
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If applicable, could guide intervention
Target motivation? (psychological)
Target barriers? (structural)
Survey to test the applicability of the theory
Motor oil disposal in California
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Target population: Latino immigrants
State-funded project
Motor Oil Disposal
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Used oil is classified as “Hazardous Waste” in
California
160 million gallons sold per year in CA
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Improper disposal is a serious environmental
problem
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Only 83 million collected
Contaminates ground water
Leading contaminate of waterways (harbors, lakes)
Lead, chromium, arsenic
Data drawn from a larger project to promote proper
disposal among Do-It-Yourself (DIY) oil changers
Survey
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Intercept interviews with 334 DIYers at local
autoparts stores
Oversampled immigrant Latinos
English and Spanish
Proper disposal (past year)
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Returned to collection facility
Improper disposal (past year)
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Poured on ground, thrown in trash, poured down
storm drain
Survey
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Barriers (N=7)
Identified through separate focus groups
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Not knowing where to take it
Extra effort required
Lack of proper storage container
Inconvenience
Being turned away from collection facility
Lack of information in Spanish
Having too much oil
Survey
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Motivations (N=7)
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Financial incentive
Keep community clean
Improper disposal is illegal
Environmental problems
Conserving natural resources
Social responsibility (do the right thing)
Friends/family think I should
Sample
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N=334 total. Focus here on 167 Spanish-speakers
99% male
100% Latino
Changed oil 4.62 times in past year (SD=7.07)
Education: 9.31 years “formal schooling” (low)
Age: 32 (SD=9.50)
100% of surveys conducted in Spanish
Reported behavior (intent)
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“The next time you change the oil on your car, how
likely is it that you will take the used oil to an oil
collection center?”
1 40
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0 “definitely won’t” to 10
“definitely will”
M=8.91; SD=2.22
69% = 10
1 20
1 00
80
60
40
20
Std . Dev = 2 .2 2
Me an = 8 .9
N = 167.00
0
0 .0
2 .0
4 .0
6 .0
8 .0
1 0 .0
h ow like ly is it t ha t you will t ake th e u s ed oil to an oil collec tion ce
Rational Choice
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Barriers
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Motivation
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M=2.06 (SD=2.13) out of 10
M=7.49 (SD=1.70) out of 10
Motivation - Barriers
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M=5.43 (SD=2.74)
Only 6 participants had negative scores (more barriers
than motivation). 13 participants were < 1.0.
Of the 13 lowest difference scores (less than 1.0)
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46% were improper disposers in the past (compared to 8% for
the remaining sample)
Rational Choice
8
7
6
5
4
Motivation
Barriers
3
2
1
0
Strong Future
Intentions
Weak Future
Intention
Rational Choice
8
7
6
5
3.79
6.17
4
Motivation
Barriers
3
2
1
0
Strong Future
Intentions
Weak Future
Intention
Rational Choice
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Correlations:
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Future intentions to take oil to collection center
r=.25** (motivation)
r=-.42** (barriers)
r=.48** difference
Barriers
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Lack of information in Spanish (M=3.41)
Likelihood that center won’t take it (M=2.29)
Not knowing where to take it (M=2.23)
Not having proper storage container (M=1.72)
Inconvenience of taking it to a center (M=1.55)
Having too much oil (M=1.77)
Extra effort required (M=1.48)
Rational Choice
STRONG FUTURE INTENTIONS
7.72
Motivation
Structural
Barriers
1.54
Rational Choice
WEAK FUTURE INTENTIONS
7.00
Motivation
Structural
Barriers
3.21
Discussion
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Rational choice can be a useful framework
Identifies specific individuals who are likely to act (or
not act)
Can guide interventions
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Motivational interventions versus structural interventions
Can be useful for identifying barriers to the behavior
Limitations
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Are people “rational”?
Do people know why they do what they do?
Difficult to identify the domain of relevant barriers and
motivations
Other psychological models might lead to other predictions
Planned Behavior (other theory)
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Attitude (important/unimportant)
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Subjective norms (common/uncommon)
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M=7.98 (SD=3.03)
Beta=.35**
Perceived behavior control (convenient/inconvenient)
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M=9.59 (SD=1.21)
Beta=.15*
M=9.10 (SD=2.09)
Beta=.20*
R=.52, F(3,163)=20.01***
Planned Behavior
Attitude
.15*
Norms
.35**
.20*
Behavioral
Control
Intention
.50**
Behavior