This study compared the influence of individualistic attitudinal factors with more community-level (or ecological) variables on recycling behavior in the context of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Data obtained from a postal questionnaire (n = 765) were matched with historical recycling participation behavior data collected by the local government authority to examine the effect of general environmental concern, attitudes toward recycling, sense of community, and socioeconomic status of neighborhood on levels of participation in a recently introduced curbside collection program. The influence of cultural differences between Catholic and Protestant communities in Belfast is also considered. Our results suggested that socioeconomic status of area was the strongest predictor of recycling participation, with recycling attitudes and sense of community also having some affect, and general environmental concern being found to have no effect. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of proenvironmental behavior and their application to the promotion of recycling participation within communities.
Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.
2.
Albrecht, D., Bultena, G., Hoiberg, E., & Nowak, P. (1982). The new environmental paradigm scale. Journal of Environmental Education, 13, 39-43.
3.
Allen, J., Davis, D., & Soskin, M. (1993). Using coupon incentives in recycling aluminum: A market approach to energy conservation policy. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 27, 300-318.
4.
Bagozzi, R., & Dabholkar, P. (1994). Consumer recycling goals and their effect on decisions to recycle: A means-end chain analysis. Psychology & Marketing , 11, 313-340.
5.
Berger, I. (1997). The demographics of recycling and the structure of environmental behavior. Environment and Behavior, 29, 515-531.
6.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). New York: Greenwood.
7.
Buckner, J.( 1988). The development of an instrument to measure neighborhood cohesion. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 771-791.
8.
Coogan, T. (1996). The troubles: Ireland's ordeal 1966-1996 and the search for peace. London: Arrow .
9.
Cochrane, F. (2001). Unsung heroes or `muddle-headed peacenicks'? Irish Studies in International Affairs, 12, 97-112.
10.
Cochrane, F. (2002). Bowling together? The role of political conflict in strengthening community action and civil society in Northern Ireland. Brisbane, Ireland: International Sociological Association.
11.
Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital and the creation of human capital . American Journal of Sociology, 94, 95-120.
12.
Corral-Verdugo, V. (1997). Dual `realities' of conservation behavior: Self-reports vs. observations of re-use and recycling behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 17, 135-145.
13.
De Young, R. (1993). Changing behaviour and making it stick: The conceptualization and management of conservation behaviour. Environment and Behavior, 25, 485-505.
14.
Du NannWinter, D., & Cava, M. (2006). The psych-ecology of armed conflict. Journal of Social Issues, 62, 19-40.
15.
Dunlap, R., & van Liere, K. (1978). The new environmental paradigm: A proposed measuring instrument and preliminary results. Journal of Environmental Education, 9, 10-19.
16.
Eastern Region Waste Management Group. (2003 ). Arc21 sub-regional waste management plan. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from http://www.arc21.com/
17.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
18.
Howe, L. (1990). Being unemployed in Northern Ireland: An ethnographic study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
19.
Howenstine, E. (1993). Marketing segmentation for recycling. Environment and Behavior, 9, 107-124.
20.
Jacobs, H., Bailey, J., & Crews, J. (1984). Development and analysis of a community-based recourse recovery program. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis , 17, 127-145.
21.
Jones, R. (1990). Understanding paper recycling in an institutionally supporting setting: An application of the theory of reasoned action. Journal of Environmental Systems, 19, 307-321.
22.
Kaiser, F., Wolfing, S., & Fuhrer, U. (1999). Environmental attitude and ecological behavior . Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, 1-19.
23.
Lehman, P., & Geller, E. (2004). Behavior analysis and environmental protection: Accomplishments and potential for more. Behavior and Social Issues, 13, 13-32.
24.
Lochner, K., Kawachi, I., & Kennedy, B. (1999). Social capital: A guide to its measurement. Health and Place, 5, 259-270.
25.
MacMillan, D., & Chavis, D. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 6-23.
26.
Margai, F. (1997). Analyzing changes in waste reduction behavior in a low-income urban community following a public outreach program. Environment and Behavior, 29, 769-792.
27.
Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-253.
28.
Maslow, A. (1954). A theory of human motivation. In A. Maslow (Ed.), Motivation and personality , (pp. 80-106). New York: Harper & Row.
29.
McAllister, R. (2000). Religious identity and the future of Northern Ireland. Policy Studies Journal, 28, 843-857.
30.
McCall, C., & Williamson, A. (2001). Governance and democracy in Northern Ireland: The role of the voluntary and community sector after the Agreement. Governance, 14, 363-383.
31.
McGuire, R. (1984). Recycling: Great expectations and garbage outcomes . American Behavioral Scientist, 18, 93-114.
32.
McGunness, J., Jones, A., & Cole, S. (1977). Attitudinal correlates of recycling behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62, 376-384.
33.
Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy. (2000). Retrieved June 15, 2004 from http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/environment/wasteManage/strategyni.shtml
34.
Nunnaly, J. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York : McGraw-Hill
35.
Obregon-Salido, F., & Corral-Verdugo, V. (1997). Systems of beliefs and environmental conservation behaviour in a Mexican community. Environment and Behavior, 29, 213-235.
36.
Owens, J., Dickerson, S., & Macintosh, D. (2000). Demographic covariates of residential recycling efficiency. Environment and Behavior, 32, 637-650.
37.
Pennington, M., & Rydin, Y. (2000). Researching social capital in local environmental policy contexts. Policy and Politics, 28, 233-249.
38.
Pieters, R. (1989). Attitudes and behavior in a source separation program: A garbology approach. Delft, the Netherlands: Euburon.
39.
Porter, B., Leeming, F., & Dwyer, W. (1995). Solid waste recovery: A review of behavioral programs to increase recycling. Environment and Behavior, 27, 122-152.
40.
Pretty, J. (2003). Social capital and the collective management of resources. Science, 302, 1912-1914.
41.
Pretty, J., & Ward, H. (2001). Social capital and the environment. World Development, 29, 209-227.
42.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
43.
Putnam, R., Leonardi, R., & Nanetti, R. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
44.
Quinn, J. (2000). Waste management in a best-value framework: The Northern Ireland experience. Proceedings of the Institute for Civil and Municipal Engineers, 139, 145-148.
45.
Rasinski, K., Smith, T., & Zuckerbraun, S. (1994). Fairness motivations and tradeoffs underlying public support for government environmental spending in nine nations. Journal of Social Issues, 50, 179-197.
46.
Ray, J., & Still, L. (1987). Maximising the response-rate in surveys may be a mistake. Personality & Individual Differences, 8, 571-573.
47.
Sarason, S. (1974). The psychological sense of community: Prospects for community psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
48.
Schultz, P., Oskamp, S., & Mainieri, T. (1995). Who recycles and when? A review of personal and situational factors. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 105-121.
49.
Scott, D., & Willits, F. (1994). Environmental attitudes and behavior: A Pennsylvania survey. Environment and Behavior, 26, 239-260.
50.
Stern, P., Dietz, T., & Guagnano, G. (1995). The new ecological paradigm in social psychological context. Environment and Behavior, 27, 723-743.
51.
Stringer, P. (1992). Environmental concern. In P. Stringer & G. Robinson (Eds.), Social attitudes in Northern Ireland: The second report (pp. 18-37). Belfast, Ireland: Blackstaff.
52.
Thorgensen, J. (1996). Recycling and morality: A critical review of the literature. Environment and Behavior, 28, 535-558.
53.
Uzzel, D., Pol, E., & Badenas, D. (2002). Place identification, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability. Environment and Behavior, 34, 26-53.
54.
van Deth, J. (2003). Measuring social capital: Orthodoxies and continuing controversies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology , 6, 79-92.
55.
Vining, J., & Ebreo, A. (1990). What makes a recycler? A comparison of recyclers and nonrecyclers. Environment and Behavior, 22, 55-73.
56.
Vining, J. & Ebreo, A. (1992). Predicting recycling behaviour from global and specific environmental attitudes and changes in recycling opportunities. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 1580-1607.
57.
Vining, J., & Ebreo, A. (2002). Emerging theoretical and methodological perspectives on conservation behavior. In R. B. Bechtel & A. Churchman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 541-558). New York: John Wiley.
58.
Williamson, A. (1992). The voluntary sector's central role in managing societal instability in Northern Ireland. In B. Gidron, R. Kramer, & L. Salamon (Eds.), Government and the third sector: Emerging relationships in welfare states. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
59.
Williamson, A., Scott, D., & Halfpenny, P. (2000). Rebuilding civil society in Northern Ireland: The community and voluntary sector's contribution to the European Union's Peace and Reconciliation District Partnership Program. Policy and Politics, 28, 49-66.
