DataSheet1_Proud of you, so act for you? The role of national pride in promoting individual pro-environmental tendencies.docx

The promotion of pro-environment behaviors is important for achieving national and global environmental protection goals. However, there is a gap between the government’s environmental will and the people’s pro-environmental tendencies. National pride has been identified as a critical pathway to achieving individual behaviors desired by the government. Here, we investigate the role of national pride in promoting individuals’ pro-environmental tendencies (PET). A large-scale survey and two experiments in the Chinese context were conducted to investigate the relationship between national pride and PET and the tools for promoting national pride and PET. The results show that national pride is positively associated with individuals’ PET. Priming with national achievements promotes individuals’ PET by inspiring their national pride. Both political-economic achievements and historical-cultural achievements can inspire Chinese people’s national pride, but political-economic achievements are more effective. Moreover, priming national pride combined with highlighting national environmental norm information could more effectively increase PET. Our findings illuminate the relationship between individuals’ national pride and PET, suggesting a potential means for translating national environmental will into individuals’ pro-environmental actions.

推动亲环境行为，对于实现国家及全球环境保护目标具有重要意义。然而，政府的环保意愿与民众的亲环境倾向之间存在显著落差。已有研究证实，民族自豪感是推动民众践行政府期望的亲环境行为的关键路径。本研究依托中国语境，开展了一项大规模问卷调查与两项实验，以探究民族自豪感与个体亲环境倾向（pro-environmental tendencies, PET）之间的关联，以及提升民族自豪感与亲环境倾向的干预手段。研究结果表明，民族自豪感与个体亲环境倾向呈显著正相关。通过民族成就启动以激发民众的民族自豪感，可有效提升其亲环境倾向。政治经济成就与历史文化成就均能激发中国民众的民族自豪感，但政治经济成就的激发效果更为显著。此外，将民族自豪感启动与强调国家环境规范信息相结合，可更有效地提升民众的亲环境倾向。本研究阐明了个体民族自豪感与亲环境倾向之间的内在关联，为将国家环保意愿转化为民众的亲环境行为提供了潜在可行路径。