From Belonging to Responsibility: How Sense of Place Amplifies Normative Drivers of Pro-Environmental Behaviors in...

The pro-environmental behaviors of residents in national nature reserves are critical to ecological conservation and reserve management. Using survey data from 872 residents across 21 national nature reserves in Yunnan Province, this study integrates the Norm Activation Model and Sense of Place to examine the determinants and mechanisms of residents' pro-environmental behaviors. Results show that within the Norm Activation Model, awareness of consequences strengthens ascription of responsibility, which in turn reinforces personal norms. Personal norms exert significant positive effects on both participation awareness and pro-environmental behaviors. Moreover, a sense of place provides an important emotional and cognitive foundation that reinforces residents' normative responses and environmental behaviors. Multi-group analysis reveals clear heterogeneity in behavioral formation mechanisms, with stronger effects of personal norms among males and high-income groups, but insignificant effects among females and low-income groups. These findings provide empirical evidence for designing differentiated strategies to promote community participation in nature reserve management.