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Oludoye OO, Supakata N, Srithongouthai S, Kanokkantapong V, Van den Broucke S, Ogunyebi L, Lubell M. Pro-environmental behavior regarding single-use plastics reduction in urban-rural communities of Thailand: Implication for public policy. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4713. [PMID: 38413669 PMCID: PMC10899209 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55192-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
The study investigates residents' behavior towards reducing the use of single-use plastic (SUP), specifically in the context of food packaging. The widespread view holds that pro-environmental behavior (PB) results from a person's moral and rational deliberations. In reducing single-use plastic (SUP) consumption and waste, the relative roles of rationality and morality models in validating PB among rural and urban residents are not yet clear. In this empirical study, we compared the relative efficacy of two models for explaining people's SUP reduction behavior: the theory of planned behavior (TPB; rationality) and the value belief norm (VBN; morality). We investigated Thailand's rural (Sichang Island) and metropolitan (Nonthaburi city) areas. As a result, we surveyed people living on Sichang Island (n = 255) and in Nonthaburi city (n = 310). We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) for data analysis in this study. Findings showed that while morality better justified all the study participants' SUP reduction behavior, rationality underpinned behaviors of rural residents, while morality better explained the actions of city residents. We discussed future theoretical development and a policy roadmap based on these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oluseye O Oludoye
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, UK
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Nuta Supakata
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
- Research Unit (RU) of Waste Utilization and Ecological Risk Assessment, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
| | - Sarawut Srithongouthai
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
- Research Unit (RU) of Waste Utilization and Ecological Risk Assessment, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Vorapot Kanokkantapong
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
- Research Unit (RU) of Waste Utilization and Ecological Risk Assessment, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Stephan Van den Broucke
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Lanrewaju Ogunyebi
- Environmental Biology Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - Mark Lubell
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California Davis, One Shields Drive, Davis, CA, 995616, USA
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