%0 Journal Article
%T Can¡¯t Hurt, Might Help: Examining the Spillover Effects From Purposefully Adopting a New Pro
%A Katherine Lacasse
%J Environment and Behavior
%@ 1552-390X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0013916517748164
%X This field experiment investigated whether purposefully adopting a new pro-environmental behavior (e.g., unplugging appliances, reusing shopping bags) led to positive spillover by altering people¡¯s subsequent pro-environmental behaviors and political attitudes. Participants (N = 125) recruited through community organizations were randomly assigned to either adopt a new pro-environmental behavior of their choice for three weeks, or were not invited to do so. Behavior adoption increased participants¡¯ likelihood of contacting their senator about climate change, but had little direct spillover effect on other individual pro-environmental behaviors, their likelihood of making household-wide changes, the political importance they placed on climate-related issues, or their support for emissions-reducing policies. Behavior adoption increased sense of environmental responsibility among some participants, leading to indirect positive effects on purchasing organic/local produce and policy support. Overall, observed positive spillover effects were limited and relatively small. There was little indication that behavior adoption led to any meaningful negative spillover effects
%K pro-environmental behavior
%K behavior change
%K attitudes
%K spillover
%K environmental responsibility
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0013916517748164