Publication
Behavioral mechanism of herders to maintain forage-livestock balance: an explanatory framework and empirical test incorporating emotions and desires
On This Page
2023 APR 29
Citation
Shi, Y. ., Li, C. ., & Zhao, M. . (2023). Behavioral mechanism of herders to maintain forage-livestock balance: an explanatory framework and empirical test incorporating emotions and desires. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04709-8 (Original work published)
Abstract
Chinese herders' most typical goal-oriented pro-environmental behavior is forage-livestock balance (FLB) maintenance behavior. Existing studies seek to explain its low incidence from the perspective of rational choice based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) but ignore the effects of emotion and desire, which are considered to have an impact on goal-oriented pro-environmental behavior. To analyze herders' FLB maintenance behavior, we constructed an extended TPB (ETPB) framework incorporating desire and emotion regarding achieving FLB. Using data from 820 herders in northern China, a structural equation model was employed to test the framework's applicability. The ETPB framework has better explanatory power than the original TPB framework in herders' FLB maintenance behavior, especially for Mongolian and middle-income herders. Anticipated emotion and desire are antecedent factors of herders' FLB behavioral intentions, and the former can influence behavioral intention through desire. Desire is an antecedent factor of herders' FLB maintenance behavior. The indirect effect of desire on behavior through behavioral intention is greater than the direct effect of desire on behavior. Furthermore, income gaps and cultural differences moderate the effects of desire and emotion. The practical implications of the findings were discussed in terms of promoting herders' FLB maintenance behavior.