From behavior domain to behavior attribute: Issues and suggestions in measuring pro-environmental behavior

Abstract: Existing research has developed a plethora of tools for measuring pro-environmental behavior, encompassing scales, individual behavioral paradigms, and group games. These tools predominantly hinge upon the behavioral domain, with the most frequently mentioned areas being conservation, transportation, waste disposal, consumption, and social citizenship behaviors (e.g., donation). However, current measurements of pro-environmental behavior face challenges related to low standardization and limited generalizability of results. These issues primarily stem from the prevailing reliance on measurement paradigms grounded in behavioral domains, neglecting the crucial consideration of behavioral attributes, which constitute the defining and distinguishing characteristics of behavior. Future research could address these by developing standardized measurement tools based on behavioral attributes and validating them through the selection of various real-life behaviors as criteria for validity testing.