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Motive Alignment Promotes Adolescents' Proenvironmental Behavior: A Field Experiment in Two Cultures
Jenna Spitzer1, Stathis Grapsas2, Astrid M G Poorthuis1
1Department of Psychology, Utrecht University.
Psychological Science
|May 11, 2026
Summary
Engaging adolescents in proenvironmental behavior is key for a sustainable future. A novel motive alignment strategy, linking environmental actions with autonomy and peer status, successfully boosted youth engagement in studies across the Netherlands and China.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Fostering proenvironmental engagement among adolescents is crucial for achieving a sustainable future.
- Understanding effective strategies to promote adolescent proenvironmental behavior is an ongoing research area.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test a novel intervention approach, motive alignment, for promoting adolescent proenvironmental behavior change.
- To investigate whether aligning proenvironmental actions with adolescents' salient motives (autonomy, peer status) enhances engagement.
Main Methods:
- A preregistered, cross-national, longitudinal field experiment was conducted across two studies (Netherlands and China).
- The intervention involved presenting proenvironmental behavior as aligned with adolescents' developmental motives.
- Control groups received a standard intervention without motive alignment.
Main Results:
- The motive alignment intervention increased proenvironmental food choices in adolescents immediately after the intervention in Study 1.
- While immediate effects on food choices diminished after four weeks, intervention participants showed increased donations to an environmental organization at follow-up.
- Study 2 successfully replicated these findings in a different cultural context (China).
Conclusions:
- Motive alignment is a promising strategy for enhancing adolescents' proenvironmental behavior.
- This approach offers scalable and affordable opportunities to strengthen interventions aimed at fostering youth environmental engagement.
- Aligning environmental actions with adolescent autonomy and peer status motives can lead to sustained behavioral changes.
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