Misperceiving peers: Altruism moderates the association between perceived and peer-reported pro-environmental...

Environmental degradation is a complex issue driven by human activities, highlighting the key role of pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in reducing and mitigating the negative impacts of human activities on the environment. Previous research has illustrated that social norms are important for predicting PEB. However, people tend to misperceive the degree to which others engage in environmental behaviors. In this study, respondents were recruited at beaches in the Valparaiso Region, central Chile. The surveyor approached individuals who were staying at the beach with a peer. We recruited a sample of 400 respondents. Importantly, peer surveys were stapled together, forming 200 pairs of surveys. We used two indicators of descriptive social norms: (1) respondents' perception of peer PEB (hereafter, "norm perception"), and (2) peer-reported peer PEB (hereafter, "peer-reported PEB"). We evaluated how respondents' age, altruism, and their own PEB influence the relationship between the respondents' perception of peer PEB and peer-reported PEB. The relationship between respondent's norm perception and peer-reported PEB was weak. We demonstrated the moderating effect of participant's altruism on this relationship, and discussed potential effects of participant's age and own PEB. Thus, this study provides evidence that peer-reported PEB might be a better representation of social normative influence than norm perception.