Navigating sustainably within the urban environment: The role of environmental identity and attitudes on sign and object evaluation

Abstract

In contemporary urbanised society, people are increasingly disconnected from nature. Environmental identity, as a promoter of various pro-environmental outcomes, may bridge the human‒nature gap. However, it is less clear how environmental identity helps people to navigate sustainably within the urban environment. In three studies, we investigate how environmental identity relates to evaluations of the functions of two different types of items that populate the human-made environment: signs that communicate environmentally appropriate behaviours (e.g., recycling signs) and objects that are instrumentally used in everyday life (e.g., plastic bags). We also examine how environmental identity di..