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. 2023 Jan 29;20(3):2393.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032393.

The Trajectory of Anthropomorphism and Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model

Yiping Yang  1   2 , Le Sun  1   2 , Buxin Han  1   2 , Pingping Liu  1   2
Affiliations

The Trajectory of Anthropomorphism and Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model

Yiping Yang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Anthropomorphism of nature can promote pro-environmental behavior (PEB). However, its underlying mechanism and these age-related changes are unclear. We propose that connectedness to nature and environmental guilt mediate the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and PEB. The present study tests the hypotheses based on a cross-sectional sample of 1364 residents aged 15-76 years, using structural equation modeling. We found that: (1) environmental guilt decreases, but PEB increases, with age; (2) anthropomorphism of nature decreases in early adulthood and increases in old age; (3) connectedness to nature decreases in mid-late adolescence and increases in early adulthood. Connectedness to nature and environmental guilt have a serial mediating effect in the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and PEB, with cross-age stability. These findings contribute to enriching the understanding of PEB from the human and nature perspective, and enhancing anthropomorphism of nature that could promote PEB in residents at different ages, through connectedness to nature and environmental guilt.

Keywords: age differences; anthropomorphism of nature; connectedness to nature; environmental guilt; mediating effect; pro-environmental behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trajectories of variables from 15 to 76 years of age. Note. PEB = Pro-environmental Behavior; CN = Connectedness to Nature; EG = Environmental Guilt; AN = Anthropomorphism of Nature.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structural model and standardized estimate values. Note. Solid arrows indicate statistically significant paths (** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001), and dashed arrows indicate nonsignificant paths.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Structural model with age. Note. * p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001.
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Grants and funding

This research was partly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72174194), the Scientific Foundation of the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. Y9CX391008, E2CX3315CX), and the joint program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. GJHZ2095).

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