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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1529563
This article is part of the Research Topic Green Lifestyle Transformation in the Digital Era View all 6 articles

Green for Us: Parental Compensation for Children's Unsustainable Behaviors

Provisionally accepted
Sili Wang Sili Wang 1*Xiaofei Zhang Xiaofei Zhang 2*
  • 1 Dalian University, Dalian, China
  • 2 Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study explores the impact of children's unsustainable behaviors on parental sustainable actions within family dynamics. Findings reveal that parents exposed to their children's unsustainable behaviors experience heightened family and environmental responsibility, which motivates them to engage in both private-domain and public-domain sustainable behaviors. These effects are amplified in intergenerational caregiving contexts, where parents compensate for reduced caregiving roles by adopting more sustainable practices. Through four experiments, the research validates the mediating roles of family and environmental responsibility and the moderating influence of caregiver type. This study extends existing theories on intergenerational behavior transmission by highlighting the influence of children's unsustainable behaviors, offering valuable insights for family education strategies and policy development aimed at fostering sustainability within households.

    Keywords: Sustainable behaviors, children's unsustainable behaviors, Family responsibility, Environmental responsibility, Intergenerational caregiving, Parental caregiving

    Received: 17 Nov 2024; Accepted: 26 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Sili Wang, Dalian University, Dalian, China
    Xiaofei Zhang, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao, 066004, Hebei, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.