The influence of perceived pride on pro-environmental behavior among residents in Chinese natural heritage sites: Based on the extended norm activation theory

Abstract

With the increasingly severe global environmental issues, how to effectively promote residents’ pro-environmental behavior has become a significant research topic in environmental protection. Chinese natural heritage sites, as precious ecological resources, face the challenge of balancing environmental conservation with socio-economic development. In recent years, public environmental awareness and behavior have gained attention, particularly the role of emotional motivations such as perceived pride in driving residents’ environmental actions. This study focuses on residents in Chinese natural heritage sites and systematically explores the relationships among perceived pride, consequence awareness, responsibility attribution, environmental commitment, pro-environmental behavior, and sustainable development perception based on the extended norm activation theory, aiming to reveal the mechanisms influencing pro-environmental behavior. Employing a questionnaire survey method, data were collected from residents in 3 World Natural Heritage Sites in China. The study thoroughly examines the pathways and mechanisms among variables. The core research question investigates how perceived pride enhances environmental commitment and pro-environmental behavior by influencing consequence awareness and responsibility attribution, while exploring variations in this process under the moderating effect of sustainable development perception.