Axiological factors as predictors of pro-environmental behaviour. The role of moral obligation in a sustainable lifestyle / Factores axiológicos como predictores del comportamiento pro-ambiental. El papel de la obligación moral en un estilo de vida sostenible

Abstract

This paper sets out to analyse the role of axiological variables — values, pro-environmental identity and moral obligation — in pro-environmental behaviours. To do this, we carried out two studies with a non-experimental cross-sectional design: the first on sustainable clothing consumption (n = 480; 70.6% women; M_age = 26.62, SD = 10.63) and the second on the adoption of a vegetarian lifestyle (n = 217; 73.5% women; M_age = 32.04, SD = 10.75). The data were collected in Spain by means of an online questionnaire using the snowball technique. In both studies, regression analysis showed that pro-environmental identity and moral obligation predict both sustainable clothing consumption and vegetarian lifestyle. Moral obligation is the main predictor of both pro-environmental behaviours. The axiological variables explain 53% of the variance for sustainable clothing consumption and 41% of the variance for a vegetarian lifestyle, highlighting that the axiological route is key to reversing our impact on the environment.