The role of social connectedness in pro-environmental behaviours at a trait and situational level

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of trait and situational social connectedness on participants pro-environmental behaviours (PEB). There were 90 participants split equally into two conditions, a socially included condition, used to create the feeling of social connection, and a socially excluded condition. Participants started by completing a social connectedness scale (SCS) to measure their feeling of trait social connectedness in everyday life. They then played the cyberball game on the computer which they were told was against two other participants, however it just virtual characters. In the Cyberball game participants were either included or excluded. After this they did a pro-environmental task which consisted of 20 trials where they had options to choose between a car and a bike, each with different waiting times, and they finished with a general PEB questionnaire. They were asked two questions for the manipulation check, if they had seen the cyberball game before and if they felt included in it. The results showed no significant differences between situational social connectedness compared to exclusion in pro-environmental choices. There was also no significant difference between trait social connectedness and PEB. This did not support the hypothesis that individuals higher in trait or situational social connectedness would be more environmentally friendly.