Don’t worry, be hungry? : Assessing the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and eco-anxiety using Climate-Friendly Food Systems labels
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Psychology, Department of
data provider: DSpace
contributor: University of British Columbia. Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
contributor: University of British Columbia. Food Services
contributor: University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning
creator: Wesselow, Kirsten
issued: 2022-10-26T19:46:19Z
issued: 2022-04-05
description: Eco-anxiety has previously been associated with increased pro-environmental behaviour, while higher situational control has previously been associated with lower levels of worry. The present study sought to identify whether presenting participants with a specific highly controllable pro-environmental behaviour - the use of climate-friendly food systems (CFFS) labels to inform food choice - would lead individuals with higher levels of eco-anxiety to embrace the behaviour to a higher degree. The traffic-light-style CFFS labels, where level of greenhouse gas emissions was indicated by a green, yellow, or red label, were implemented in a survey-based shopping task, as well as in a university dining facility. In the survey, eco-anxiety level was assessed after the introduction of CFFS labels. Exploratory data including climate concern, pro-environmental intent, race, gender, and age were also collected in the survey. In the dining facility, the labels were added to the facility’s menu after a period of baseline data collection, and a poster featured at the dining facility described the meaning of the labels to customers. An Instagram marketing campaign was also used to promote understanding of the labels. The survey study found that on the shopping task, food choice was significantly impacted by the CFFS labels. A small positive and marginally significant relationship was found between the pro-environmental behaviour of individual change in food choice and eco-anxiety. In assessing the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and the secondary variables, no relationships were found. However, a moderate positive and significant relationship was found between eco-anxiety and both pro-environmental intent and climate concern. It is possible that, because the shopping task was hypothetical, a different relationship may have been found between pro-environmental and eco-anxiety in a real-world setting, where the impact of the labels may not have been as large. In the u…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/83060
note: Don’t worry, be hungry? Assessing the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and eco-anxiety using Climate-Friendly Food Systems labels Prepared by: Kirsten Wesselow Prepared for: UBC Food Services and UBC Botanical Gardens Course Code: PSYC 349 University of British Columbia Date: 5 April 2022 Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS Sustainability Program provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student research project and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore, readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Sustainability Program representative about the current status of the subject matter of a report”. University of British Columbia Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Sustainability Program Student Research Report i Executive Summary Eco-anxiety has previously been associated with increased pro-environmental behaviour, while higher situational control has previously been associated with lower levels of worry. The present study sought to identify whether presenting participants with a specific highly controllable pro-environmental behaviour - the use of climate-friendly food systems (CFFS) labels to inform food choice - would lead individuals with higher levels of eco-anxiety to embrace the behaviour to a higher degree. The traffic-light-style CFFS labels, where level of greenhouse gas emissions was indicated by a green, yellow, or red label, were implemented in a survey-based shopping task, as well as in a university dining facility. In the survey, eco-anxiety level was assessed after the introduction of CFFS labels. Exploratory data including climate concern, pro-environmental intent, race, gender, and age were also collected in the survey. I…
has type: Report
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0421612
language: eng
peer review status: Unreviewed
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Undergraduate
is part of: UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report
is part of: University of British Columbia. PSYC 349
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83060