From ‘Me’ to ‘We’: the psychology behind future collective action for wetland sustainability

The influence of socio-psychological factors on environmental sustainability, including wetlands, is widely recognized; however, in some cases, their role is overlooked. The management and protection of wetlands is considered a collective action that requires the participation of all stakeholders. Based on this, a social identity-based behavioral intention model was used to identify and analyze the social and psychological factors affecting the intention of landowners to engage in sustainable wetland use. The studied population were landowners around Kani Barazan Wetland in Iran, who were surveyed using a cross-sectional study and selection of a representative sample through simple random sampling approach. Reliability and validity of the data gathering tool were evaluated using different indices. Findings showed that the constructs of participative efficacy (Beta = 0.158; Sig = 0.003) and collective efficacy (Beta = 0.183; Sig = 0.011) towards engagement in sustainable wetland use had significant effects on the intention. Landowners' social identity had positive and significant effects on participative efficacy (Beta = 0.052; Sig = 0.007), collective efficacy (Beta = 0.045; Sig = 0.017), and intention to engage in sustainable collective management and use of the wetlands (Beta = 0.156; Sig = 0.014). Analysis of the moderating role of attitude showed that this construct positively and significantly moderates the effect of collective efficacy on the intention to engage in sustainable collective use of the wetlands (Beta = 0.070; Sig = 0.006). This study has practical contributions by providing practical suggestions for environmental policy makers, sustainable management planners of the wetlands, and decision makers at micro and macro levels. Also, by providing evidence in the field of the moderating effect of attitude on the relationship between collective efficacy and intention, it theoretically helps to develop the body of knowledge in the field of social-psychological indicators explaining the intention to engage in the sustainable collective management of the wetlands.