Background: Implementation of effective environmental policies requires an understanding of the psychological factors predisposing people to engage in pro-environmental behaviour (PEB).
Dispositional gratitude, a psychological resource strongly associated with prosocial behaviour, holds promise as a psychological antecedent of PEB. While nature relatedness and environmental values have received a lot of attention in research about PEB, gratitude remains underexplored. Informed
by advancements in Ecopsychology, the present study investigated the relationship between dispositional gratitude and PEB, while also looking at the potential moderating roles of nature
relatedness and environmental value orientation.
Methods: A convenience sample of 229 adults, recruited via social media and email, completed an online survey including measures of PEB, dispositional gratitude, environmental value orientation (biospheric, egoistic, hedonic, and altruistic values) and nature relatedness. Correlational and
regression analyses were conducted to test the associations.
Results: Gratitude exhibited a statistically significant, although weak, correlation with PEB, suggesting that dispositionally grateful individuals engaged in more PEB (r = 0.29; p < .001).
However, in multivariate regression analyses the effect of gratitude disappeared, while biospheric
values and nature relatedness remained the strongest predictors of PEB.
Conclusion: The results provide preliminary insight into the relationship between dispositional gratitude and PEB, and act to further substantiate the valuable roles of nature relatedness and biospheric values in predicting PEB. Further research will help to clarify the role of gratitude as a potential psychological resource to foster as part of interventions to promote PEB.