10.2190/FBQC-5V5D-HHVC-V6X8 FBQC5V5DHHVCV6X8 4 Exploring the Difference Between Recyclers and Non-Recyclers: The Role of Information 341 351 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 FBQC5V5DHHVCV6X8.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=FBQC5V5DHHVCV6X8 4 Raymond De Young The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor This article reports on a pilot study which explored how recyclers and non-recyclers differ. Two hundred households were first identified by direct observation over a series of months being either recyclers or non-recyclers. These households were then contacted and ninety-one respondents agreed to answer a series of verbal questions and complete a short written questionnaire. While from a preliminary study, these data are useful in suggesting that recyclers and non-recyclers are similar in their pro-recycling attitudes, extrinsic motivation, and the degree to which they viewed recycling as a trivial activity. They differed significantly, however, in the degree to which they required additional information about recycling. Non-recycling respondents indicated a lack of information on how to carry out the activity. The study is also of interest due to the isolation of attitudinal and behavioral aspects of recycling. Since some form of relationship between these two constructs is so pervasive in the literature, the results are conceptually intriguing. Perhaps more important, however, are the practical implications for enabling non-recyclers to change their behavior independently of their attitudes. M. V. Melosi, <i>Garbage in the Cities: Refuse, Reform, and the Environment, 1880-1980</i>, Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 1981. A. H. Purcell, <i>The Waste Watchers: A Citizen's Handbook for Conserving Energy</i>, Anchor Press/Doubleday, New York, 1980. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, <i>The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action</i>, Final Report of the Municipal Solid Waste Task Force, Office of Solid Waste, Report EPA/530-SW-88-052, Washington, D. C., 1989. G. W. Allport, Attitudes, in <i>A Handbook of Social Psychology</i>, C. Murchison (ed.), Clark University Press, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1935. L. Festinger, <i>A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance</i>, Row, Peterson, Evanston, Illinois, 1957. K. Thomas (ed.), <i>Attitudes and Behaviour: Selected Readings</i>, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, England, 1971. L. L. Thurstone, The Measurement of Attitudes, <i>Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 26</i>, pp. 249-269, 1931. J. C. Hendee, No, to Attitudes to Evaluate Environmental Education, <i>Journal of Environmental Education, 3</i>, p. 65, 1972. R. H. Weigel, Environmental Attitudes and the Prediction of Behavior, in <i>Environmental Psychology: Directions and Perspectives</i>, N. R. Feimer and E. S. Geller (eds.), Praeger, New York, 1983. E. S. Geller, R. A. Winett, and P. B. Everett, <i>Preserving the Environment: New Strategies for Behavioral Change</i>, Pergamon Press, New York, 1982. D. B. Gray, <i>Ecological Beliefs and Behaviors: Assessment and Change</i>, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1985. S. M. Macey and M. A. Brown, The Role of Past Experience in Repetitive Household Behavior, <i>Environment and Behavior, 15</i>, pp. 123-141, 1983. R. H. Weigel, Attitudes and Actions in Research on Environmental Problems, <i>Journal of Resource Management and Technology, 14</i>, pp. 123-129, 1985. R. De Young, Some Psychological Aspects of Recycling: The Structure of Conservation Satisfactions, <i>Environment and Behavior, 18</i>, pp. 435-449, 1986. R. De Young, Encouraging Environmentally Appropriate Behavior: The Role of Intrinsic Motivation, <i>Journal of Environmental Systems, 15</i>, pp. 281-292, 1985-1986. R. De Young and J. Robinson, Some Perspectives on Managing Water Demand: Public and Expert Views, <i>Canadian Journal of Water Resources, 9</i>, pp. 9-18, 1984. L. J. Cronbach, Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of Tests, <i>Psychometrika, 16</i>, pp. 297-335, 1951. J. C. Nunnally, <i>Psychometric Theory</i>, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1978. R. De Young, <i>Clean Michigan Fund 1986-1987 Resource Recovery Education Grants: A Comparison of Selected Programs</i>, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, 1987. J. Powell, The Public's Opinion of Recycling, <i>Resource Recycling, 1</i>, pp. 6-7, 1982. Becker Research, <i>New Haven Residents Discuss Recycling</i>, New Haven, Connecticut, 1981. J. Salimando, Camden County Sets the Recycling Pace, <i>Waste Age</i>, pp. 48-49, 51, 53, July 1987. G. Hardin, Tragedy of the Commons, <i>Science, 162</i>, pp. 1243-1248, 1968. S. Kaplan and R. Kaplan, <i>Cognition and Environment: Functioning in an Uncertain World</i>, Praeger, New York, 1982.