Examining Patriotism and Environmental Responsibility for Waste Separation in Ghana

Ghana faces substantial improper waste separation, compounding its environmental management challenges. However, whether Ghanaians' patriotism (i.e., constructive, conventional, and glorification), environmentally responsible behavior, and norm activation concepts influence households' waste separation intentions remains unanswered. Based on PLS-SEM modeling, we surveyed a cross-section of 493 respondents from Ghana. The analysis shows that glorification patriotism positively influences personal norms, while constructive and conventional patriotism do not. Environmentally responsible behavior moderates only the relationship between glorification and personal norm. Awareness of consequences and the ascription of responsibility are positively correlated, and both influence personal norms and intentions regarding waste separation. Personal norms positively influence waste separation intentions and mediate the relationship between glorification patriotism and waste separation intentions. The insignificant effect of constructive and conventional patriotism calls for a more rigorous approach to reviewing and incorporating patriotic sentiments into the national education syllabus. This study contributes to the waste management literature by incorporating dimensions of patriotism and environmentally responsible behavior as self-regulatory mechanisms into norm activation concepts, providing empirical insights into the elements that trigger waste separation intentions among Ghanaian households.