Neuronal and behavioral mechanisms of pro-environmental behavior

Le Houcq Corbi, Zarah (2024): Neuronal and behavioral mechanisms of pro-environmental behavior. Dissertation, LMU München: Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN)

Abstract

Pro-environmental decisions, which involve balancing personal benefits with environmental considerations, are ubiquitous in our daily lives. While systemic, organizational, and technological structures are crucial for mitigating climate change, these efforts ultimately require changing individual behavior (Ray, Franz, Jarrett, & Pickett, 2021; Schultz & Kaiser, 2012). Therefore, understanding the factors driving individuals to engage in pro-environmental behaviors is critical, especially given the substantial investments in interventions and policies whose success is not guaranteed (Wamsler, Osberg, Osika, Herndersson, & Mundaca, 2021). A significant challenge in this field is the attitude-behavior gap, where pro-environmental attitudes rarely translate into pro-environmental behavior (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). To create more effective interventions and policies, it is essential to gain deeper insights into the mechanisms underlying pro-environmental behavior (and the attitude-behavior gap)—not just theoretically, but empirically and ideally neurobiologically. This thesis aims to elucidate the mechanisms underlying pro-environmental behavior using a multidisciplinary approach that integrates behavioral and neuroscientific methods. For this purpose, the dissertation (i) investigates a potential contributor to pro-environmental behavior: mindfulness; (ii) studies the intricate relationship between pro-environmental, prosocial and future-oriented behavior at a behavioral and neuronal level; and lastly (iii) investigates the neuronal mechanism of the attitude-behavior gap. The dissertation's first study investigated mindfulness training's effects on pro-environmental behavior. In addition, building on the theoretical link between pro-environmental, prosocial, and future-oriented behavior, we investigated how their baseline preferences are related at a behavioral level (Pfattheicher, Sassenrath, & Schindler, 2016; Weber, 2017). Lastly, given that mindfulness is also associated with these behaviors we examined the roles of prosociality and future orientation as mediators of the mindfulness-environmental link. Contrary to previous correlational and theoretical accounts, mindfulness training decreased, instead of increased, environmental and prosocial choices, and no significant effects were found for future orientation (Ericson, Kjønstad, & Barstad, 2014; Geiger, Grossman, & Schrader, 2019). Although prosocial and environmental choices were correlated, prosocial decisions did not moderate the link between mindfulness and pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, while pro-environmental and prosocial behaviors are related, prosocial behavior alone does not fully explain the connection between mindfulness and pro-environmental behavior. These findings challenge previous theoretical accounts suggesting a positive effect of mindfulness on pro-environmental and prosocial behavior (Ericson et al., 2014). The second project investigated the neuronal underpinnings of pro-environmental behavior. To test whether the hypothesized link between pro-environmental, prosocial, and future-oriented behavior is mirrored at the neuronal level, we compared their neuronal correlates in a single study testing their shared neuronal mechanisms, a novel approach in the literature (Gladwin, Krause, & Kennelly, 1995; Weber, 2017). We also examined whether these mechanisms play a role in bridging the attitude-behavior gap. Our study found that pro-environmental behavior exhibited higher brain activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), precuneus, and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). The TPJ was also activated during the neuronal overlap of pro-environmental and prosocial behavior, and it modulated the attitude-behavior gap. These findings are in line with previous neuroscientific studies demonstrating the causal role of the TPJ (Langenbach, Savic, Baumgartner, Wyss, & Knoch, 2022). Our results contribute to the existing literature on TPJ and pro-environmental behavior by showing that TPJ activation is associated with both environmental and prosocial decisions and highlighting its role in the major challenge of this field, namely the attitude-behavior gap. Taken together, our findings challenge previous theoretical accounts by suggesting potential reverse effects of mindfulness on pro-environmental behavior (Ericson et al., 2014). However, they do not imply a general negative impact of mindfulness on pro-environmental and prosocial behaviors. Instead, they underscore the nuanced nature of pro-environmental behavior and the need for future research. Moreover, our research highlights a closer relationship between pro-environmental and prosocial decisions compared to future-oriented preferences, both at behavioral and neuronal levels. This relationship is further supported by the involvement of the TPJ, known for its association with prosocial behavior (Van Overwalle, 2009), in bridging the attitude-behavior gap. These findings might have broader implications for public interventions and policies, advocating for the integration of prosocial aspects alongside environmental elements in their development.

• Dokumententyp: Dissertationen (Dissertation, LMU München)
• Keywords: sustainable behavior, pro-environmental behavior, attitude-behavior gap, prosociality, future-oriented behavior, mindfulness, fMRI, drift-diffusion model
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik ; 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften, Biologie
• Fakultäten: Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN)
• Sprache der Hochschulschrift: Englisch
• Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 16. Dezember 2024
• 1. Bericht­erstatter:in: Soutschek, Alexander