Effects of Group Emotion and Moral Belief on Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Clustering

An important topic in ecological environmental protection concerns the determination of a method to guide individual pro-environmental behavior from the dual perspectives of immediate intervention and long-term shaping. This research analyzed the influence of group emotions and moral beliefs on the pro-environmental behavior of residents and introduces the concept of the “psychological cluster” to explore the mediating effect of the “psychological cluster” on group emotions, moral beliefs, the pro-environmental behavior of residents, and its various dimensions. The results of a questionnaire survey, factor analysis, regression analysis, and other methods showed that group emotions and moral beliefs can significantly the predict pro-environmental behaviors of residents, and moral beliefs have a significant impact on basic pro-environmental behaviors. Each dimension of the psychological cluster has a significant effect on pro-environmental behavior. Among them, the psychological cluster has the most significant effect on the citizen-type pro-environmental behavior. That is to say, when individuals are passionate about environmental causes, and feel angry and guilty about damaging the environment, they will be encouraged to actively participate in environmental protection activities in public places and give advice on environmental protection. Group emotion and moral belief can drive the occurrence of a psychological cluster, which leads to the generation of group behavior. In other words, psychological clustering acts as a “middleman” between group emotion, moral belief, and pro-environmental behavior of residents. However, its influence is not completely mediated via the psychological cluster. In summary, the psychological cluster plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between group emotion, moral belief, and the pro-environmental behavior of residents. Finally, corresponding policy suggestions are put forward based on this research.