The Influence Mechanism of Self-Transcendence on Green Consumption
Description
Self-transcendence (ST) is recognized as a key predictor of green consumption. Thus, a multiple intermediary model was developed to clarify the psychological mechanisms underlying ST and its influence on consumption. The model was tested using data from a nationally representative sample of 428 Chinese participants. Hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Self-transcendence has a positive effect on green consumption. Hypothesis 2: Self-transcendence indirectly increases green consumption through the mediating effect of construction of meaning in life. Hypothesis 3: Self-transcendence indirectly increases green consumption through the mediating effect of nature connectedness. Hypothesis 4: Self-transcendence indirectly increases green consumption through the mediating effect of social connectedness. Hypothesis 5: Construction of meaning in life and nature connectedness together play a chain-mediating role between self-transcendence and green consumption. Hypothesis 6: Construction of meaning in life and social connectedness together play a chain-mediating role between self-transcendence and green consumption. Social desirability was measured to assess and control for potential social desirability bias, and we estimated the hypothesized model while controlling for participants' age, gender, education level, parenthood status, and social desirability. The results show that ST’s overall positive effect on green consumption is realized via four indirect paths: (1) the simple mediating role of nature connectedness between ST and green consumption, (2) the simple mediating role of social connectedness between ST and green consumption; (3) the chain-mediating role of construction of meaning in life (CoMIL) and nature connectedness, and (4) the chain-mediating role of CoMIL and social connectedness. Among these paths, nature connectedness plays the most critical mediating role for the Chinese, accounting for the greatest proportion of the total indirect effect.