Blurred lines of responsibility: The antecedents of air pollution-reducing behavior against transnational particulate matter

Particulate matter (PM) poses a serious threat to public health and well-being worldwide. Given the transboundary characteristics of PM, previous studies focused on causal and responsibility attribution of PM pollution; however, the role of perceived risk and individual efficacy in this process has been minimally explored. Our study presents an integrated framework combining motivation protection theory, attribution theory, and responsibility preconditions. Using the case of South Korea, we investigated (a) the relationship between causal attribution and responsibility allocation concerning the PM crisis and (b) how individuals’ PM reduction actions are associated with their perceptions of PM risk, mitigation efficacy, causation, and responsibility. Through structural equation modeling, we analyzed responses of 513 Seoul citizens and developed two key findings. First, we found clear patterns in how key factors influence responsibility allocation: people tend to allocate responsibility in agreement with their perception of causal attribution. Efficacy and risk perception had different effects on responsibility allocation: self-efficacy drives self-responsibility, whereas perceived risk susceptibility leads individuals to transfer responsibility to foreign countries. Second, self-causation had a strong and direct influence on PM reduction actions. Self-efficacy was also found to be a strong positive driver of individual-level PM reduction efforts. Together, our findings illuminate the potential of individuals’ contributions to PM reduction through constructive self-causation and self-efficacy, which were found more influential than a sense of responsibility in motivating action. Our findings offer implications for alleviating transnational environmental challenges with blurred causal and responsibility attribution.