Does perceptions of environmentalists pose a threat in Singapore? Investigating environmentalist stereotypes and their effects on pro-environmental behaviours in Singapore

Abstract

Environmentalists are the advocators of pro-environmental efforts. However, their advocacy success in shaping people’s pro-environmental behaviours is contingent on public’s impression of them. Yet, scant research on environmentalist stereotypes has been conducted in Singapore. Thus, to assert the generalizability of previous overseas research on environmentalist stereotypes, this thesis explored the environmentalist stereotypes found in Singapore and their influences on Singaporeans’ pro-environmental behaviours. The potential of perceived environmentalist threat in moderating the relationship between environmentalist stereotypes and pro-environmental behaviours was also explored. Three studies were conducted using Singaporean undergraduates aged between 18 and 30 years. In Study 1, 129 participants listed traits describing environmentalists through a free association task. In Study 2, 132 participants indicated their perceived prevalence and valence of those traits through rating tasks. In Study 3, 213 participants reported their environmentalist stereotype endorsement, perceived environmentalist threat and pro-environmental behaviours through self-report questionnaires. For Study 1 and Study 2, results revealed 25 environmentalist stereotypical traits, which are mostly and predominantly positive. Besides some unique findings, the derived traits and their valence largely corroborated with past literature. For Study 3, results indicated a significant positive relationship only between positive environmentalist stereotypes and sustainable drinking. The relationship between environmentalist stereotypes and all other constructs of pro-environmental behaviours, and the moderation effect of perceived environmentalist threat were not found. Plausible explanations, implications, limitations and future directions of these findings were addressed.