Advancing Self-Social Engineering in Tourism-Related Environmental Management: Integrating Environmental Psychology, Planned Behavior, and Norm Activation Theories

This study aims to develop the concept of self-social engineering in the context of tourism, focusing on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. By integrating psychological theories such as Environmental Psychology Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Norm Activation Theory, the purpose of the investigation was to determine the extent of the direct influence of independent variables of perceived environmental quality (PEQ), attitude, subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on self-social engineering (SSE) and their indirect influence through intention to engage in environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The structural analysis results from a sample of 191 visitors indicated that the unified model demonstrates a satisfactory predictive capability for SSE. This study’s findings highlight significant and insignificant relationships among the research variables, providing insights into the dynamics of pro-environmental behavior. Significant positive relationships were observed between attitude and SSE and between SN and SSE, demonstrating the influence of individual attitudes and social pressures on fostering self-initiated environmental actions. Similarly, PBC was found to significantly impact both SSE and ERB, indicating that individuals who feel capable of taking environmental actions are more likely to do so. Conversely, some relationships were found to be insignificant. The relationship between PEQ and SSE was insignificant, suggesting that positive perceptions of environmental quality alone may not motivate individuals to engage in self-directed environmental behaviors. Additionally, PEQ showed a negative relationship with ERB, indicating that high environmental quality perceptions might reduce the urgency to act, potentially leading to complacency. These findings highlight pro-environmental behavior’s complex and context-dependent characteristics, underscoring the importance of adopting integrated approaches considering individual and situational factors. The limitations of this study include its cross-sectional design, which restricts the ability to analyze behavioral changes over time. Additionally, its relatively localized sample does not fully capture broader tourist populations’ diverse demographic and geographical contexts.