[Research Contribution] Green Psychology and Pro-Environmental Behavior

18 April, 2025

Keywords: Environmental passion, Green self-efficacy, Green psychology, Pro-environmental behavior

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations aim to mobilize resources from countries to address a set of pressing economic, social, and environmental issues. In this context, higher education institutions play an important role as they are responsible for training the skills and the knowledge of the future workforce on sustainable development. Furthermore, the younger generation plays a key role in promoting sustainable development goals through sustainable-oriented behavior in their daily lives. Therefore, Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG) has become a necessity for stakeholders to take advantage of training activities and integrate SDGs into daily activities in the higher education environment. Let’s explore the research from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH)!

To address the environmental aspect of sustainable development, the transition from the traditional model to a green university has attracted the attention of scholars in various cultural contexts. Accordingly, higher education institutions have implemented a variety of policies to green the organization’s operating model. These policies can be divided into four groups including: (1) academic (e.g., research, curriculum), (2) engagement (e.g., campus engagement, public engagement), (3) operations (e.g., energy management), and (4) planning and administration (e.g., cross-functional coordination activities, green investments). In short, a range of activities in both academic and non-academic areas at universities can reflect teaching and learning activities, interrelationships, and shape the university climate in terms of policies that emphasize greening aspects.

In the field of education, scholars have found that the school environment is important for academic performance and related behaviors. However, research on school environment and its impact on learner behavior has focused primarily on academic issues, rather than on how learners apply their formal and informal learning to their everyday lives. For example, although the green transition in education has been around for many years, there is a lack of empirical evidence exploring whether an educational institution’s green environment can promote learners to adopt sustainable practices in their everyday lives. A cross-sectional survey of 270 university students aimed to investigate the relationship between green psychology and pro-environmental behaviors in their everyday lives (e.g., choosing public transportation, bringing their own food containers, engaging in waste sorting, etc.). From the perspective of social cognitive theory, students’ green psychology of the university (their perception of the organization’s green activities) can enhance both students’ cognitive processes and behavioral outcomes.

First, the green climate in the university was found to promote students’ behavior in performing their daily green behaviors. These findings are consistent with those of previous research in education that employs the school environment to shape students’ behavior and to extend the scope to include the university’s green activities. However, the difference that the study discovered is the dual mediating role of environmental passion and green self-efficacy that may bridge the gap between the external environment (green psychology) and behavioral outcomes. These mechanisms provide a specific explanation for how the school environment may influence student behavior and some additional mechanisms to extend previous research indicating that students’ perceptions of their school can shape their responses accordingly. Finally, green self-efficacy was found to strengthen the relationship between perceived green psychological climate of the university and environmental passion. Consequently, the results provide insights into when a green environment is more effective in enhancing student passion, which, in turn, leads to green behavior.

There was an unsupported hypothesis that referred to the moderating role of green self-efficacy in the association between green psychology and pro-environmental behavior. The UEH authors’ assumption of a negligible effect of green self-efficacy was in accordance with the concept of green self-efficacy. Since green self-efficacy primarily refers to the cognitive processes that individuals engage in to plan to achieve goals, it may act as a mediating effect linking green climate and green behavior. However, when tested as a moderator, this cognitive factor may not be strong enough to facilitate the influence of external determinants (green psychology) on behavioral outcomes. This study has made several contributions to educational administrators:

First, the green university model has been validated and widely supported for implementation as it can be a potential solution to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals in terms of environment and mechanical transformation of activities, but also in influencing the behavior of stakeholders such as learners. Universities can change their green activities, including developing curricula related to sustainable practices, strengthening green training capacity, organizing workshops and competitions related to environmental protection.

Furthermore, since green self-efficacy is an important link between green psychology and green behavior, it is necessary for organizations to provide specific guidance, establish green role models (e.g., employees in the organization can create role models for learners to follow), and encourage students to participate in drafting university green policies, which can enhance their confidence to implement green standards. For example, university administrators can regularly hold meetings with students to exchange green ideas or directly participate in green projects led by students to promote green self-efficacy.

In addition, since environmental passion includes both cognitive and affective aspects, universities can link reward systems to green actions to enhance students’ awareness of green policies and to promote the emotional aspect that motivates students to practice green behavior.

Finally, given that green self-efficacy plays a dual role as both a moderator and a mediator, we suggest that educational administrators may extend their search for empirical evidence beyond the organizational environment to promote this psychological process. For example, scholars have found that many factors at multiple levels can promote green self-efficacy, like building a shared vision or leadership style.

The study Promoting pro-environmental behavior among university students: Does green psychology matter? can be accessed HERE.

Authors: Nguyen Le Hoang Long – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City; Nguyen Van Hau – Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

This article is part of the series spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research for the Community”. UEH cordially invites readers to watch the next UEH Research Insights newsletter.

News, photos: The authors, UEH Department of Communications and Partnerships

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