The influence of global crises on reshaping pro-environmental behavior, case study: the COVID-19 pandemic

As a profound crisis capable of threatening human well-being as well as existence, the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered as an awakening experience which may lead to the promotion of environmentally responsible behaviors in the society. In the present research, an extended form of the Theory of Planned Behavior has been applied to examine the moderating effect of COVID-19 pandemic on pro-environmental behavior mechanism in Iran. To evaluate this effect, a 5-scale Likert questionnaire was designed comprising of 28 questions in 7 sections of information and concerns about COVID-19, environmental knowledge, subjective norm, attitude, intention, perceived behavioral control and pro-environmental behavior. According to the results, the pandemic has led to an increase in people's knowledge about their environment and has positively affected individuals' subjective norms, or the perceived social pressure to get involved in environmentally friendly actions. Individuals' attitude to perform pro-environmental behaviors has also increased as a result of this incident. Moreover, the role of perceived behavioral control over environmental actions has been influenced by the pandemic situation and the COVID-19 crisis has positively influenced the relationship between intention and pro-environmental behavior.