Our health, our planet: a cross-sectional analysis on the association between health consciousness and pro-environmental behavior among health professionals.
Akihiro Shimoda, Hana Hayashi, David Sussman, Keisuke Nansai, Isao Fukuba, Ichiro Kawachi, Naoki Kondo
Author Information
Akihiro Shimoda: Department of Health Education and Health Sociology, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. ORCID
Hana Hayashi: Department of Health Education and Health Sociology, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. ORCID
David Sussman: Global Development and Environment Institute, Tuffs University, Somerville, MA, USA.
Keisuke Nansai: Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ibaraki, Japan.
One possible predictive factor that affects both pro-environmental behavior and health behavior is health consciousness (a psychological state where an individual is aware of and involved in his/her health condition). We examined the relationship between health consciousness and two pro-environmental behaviors (recycling and green purchasing) within health professionals in a Japanese large hospital. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed a significant association between health consciousness and recycling behavior, while there was no association between health consciousness and green purchasing behavior. We assume that health consciousness can certainly be a factor promoting pro-environmental behavior, but that it may have been insufficient to cause green purchasing, because of the organizational norm of recycling in the Japanese context. Given that there is previous evidence about the relationship between health consciousness and health behavior, health consciousness might be a predictive factor that encourages both health behavior and pro-environmental behavior simultaneously.
