From Prediction to Process: A Self-regulation Account of Environmental Behavior Change

Recently, environmental researchers have been urged to widen the theoretical scope and integrate other behavioral moderators to better understand and bridge the frequently observed intention-behavior gap in the environmental domain. The present article seeks to meet this call by reviewing and highlighting the relevance of self-regulation for environmental behavior change. The article focuses on the two primary components of self-regulation: goal setting and goal striving. Self-regulation research differs from the prediction models commonly employed in environmental research (e.g. theory of planned behavior or value-belief-norm theory), as it focuses on the dynamic psychological mechanisms that result in either success or failure in acting relative to a certain standard or goal. Similar to the intention-behavior gap, self-regulation research recognizes the occasional failure of people to adhere to their own environmental standards and goals. However, unlike prediction models, self-regulation research gives directions on how to reduce the frequency by which these failures occur.