The Influence Mechanism of Self-Transcendence on Green Consumption

Self-transcendence (ST) is recognized as a key predictor of green consumption. Thus, a multiple intermediary model was developed to clarify the psychological mechanisms underlying ST and its influence on consumption. The model was tested using data from a nationally representative sample of 428 Chinese participants. Hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Self-transcendence has a positive effect on green consumption. Hypothesis 2: Self-transcendence indirectly increases green consumption through the mediating effect of construction of meaning in life. Hypothesis 3: Self-transcendence indirectly increases green consumption through the mediating effect of nature connectedness. Hypothesis 4: Self-transcendence indirectly increases green consumption through the mediating effect of social connectedness. Hypothesis 5: Construction of meaning in life and nature connectedness together play a chain-mediating role between self-transcendence and green consumption. Hypothesis 6: Construction of meaning in life and social connectedness together play a chain-mediating role between self-transcendence and green consumption. Social desirability was measured to assess and control for potential social desirability bias, and we estimated the hypothesized model while controlling for participants' age, gender, education level, parenthood status, and social desirability. The results show that ST’s overall positive effect on green consumption is realized via four indirect paths: (1) the simple mediating role of nature connectedness between ST and green consumption, (2) the simple mediating role of social connectedness between ST and green consumption; (3) the chain-mediating role of construction of meaning in life (CoMIL) and nature connectedness, and (4) the chain-mediating role of CoMIL and social connectedness. Among these paths, nature connectedness plays the most critical mediating role for the Chinese, accounting for the greatest proportion of the total indirect effect.自我超越（Self-transcendence, ST）被证实为绿色消费（green consumption）的关键预测因子。为此，本研究构建多重中介模型，以厘清自我超越影响绿色消费的内在心理机制。该模型依托包含428名中国参与者的全国代表性样本数据进行检验。本研究提出如下假设：假设1：自我超越对绿色消费具有正向影响。假设2：自我超越通过生命意义建构的中介作用，间接促进绿色消费。假设3：自我超越通过自然联结的中介作用，间接促进绿色消费。假设4：自我超越通过社会联结的中介作用，间接促进绿色消费。假设5：生命意义建构与自然联结在自我超越与绿色消费间发挥链式中介作用。假设6：生命意义建构与社会联结在自我超越与绿色消费间发挥链式中介作用。研究对社会期望性进行测量，以评估并控制潜在的社会期望偏倚；同时在假设模型的估计过程中，控制参与者的年龄、性别、受教育程度、育儿状况及社会期望性等变量。研究结果显示，自我超越对绿色消费的整体正向效应通过四条间接路径实现：（1）自然联结在自我超越与绿色消费间发挥简单中介作用；（2）社会联结在自我超越与绿色消费间发挥简单中介作用；（3）生命意义建构（Construction of Meaning in Life, CoMIL）与自然联结发挥链式中介作用；（4）CoMIL与社会联结发挥链式中介作用。在上述路径中，自然联结在中国样本中发挥最为关键的中介作用，其贡献占总间接效应的比例最高。