The theory of planned behavior states that attitudes, perceived control and subjective norms shape an individual’s behavior. Research has shown that between 30-45% of the variance of recycling intention can be explained by using this theory.
→Individual behavior is strongly influenced by the degree of perceived behavioral control. In conservation issues, people might often feel like they have a lack of control. This influences their behavior directly and results in their attitudes and intentions being ‘hidden’ in their observable behavior.
→Social influence is also incorporated in the theory when considering the concept of subjective norms. People have perceptions of whether they are expected by their surroundings to perform a particular behavior. Social pressure has been shown to be an important variable influencing the use of plastic. When reporting plastic avoidance behavior, social desirability seems to be very relevant. People are affected by feelings of guilt and are afraid of being judged by other customers when taking plastic bags at a counter. In this way, certain environmental policies like plastic bag bans also result in changing norms in a community. Changes in anti-plastic-norms usually go hand in hand with structural changes, accounting for at least a part of the impact of the policy.
→This theory implies a low correlation between knowledge and action. Although a high awareness of the plastic waste problem has been reported, behavioral change stays on a low level.
→For different aspects of the plastic waste problem, different concepts of the theory of planned behavior seem to be of major influence. While for recycling behavior, individual attitudes are the main determinant, social norms are very important for littering.