Why some people turn off the lights and others don’t
Saving energy isn’t just about keeping bills down. A new analysis of 100 existing studies across 42 countries shows that people with positive attitudes to the environment, or who want what they do at home to make a difference to society, are more likely to save energy.
This finding is in line with leading psychological models of behaviour, which show there is often a relationship between what we feel and what we do.
But these models, and the evidence about who is more likely to turn off the lights and save energy, also show very clearly that there is often an “attitude-behaviour gap” – what we know we should do doesn’t always translate into action.
Dr Sam Hampton, Senior Researcher, Energy programme, Environmental Change Institute writes in The Conversation