The Attitude-Behavior Gap in Energy Conservation: Inhibitory Pathways of Social Norm Conflict and the Moderating Role of Goal Self-Efficacy

This article constructs a theoretical model that social norm conflicts suppress energy-saving behavior through sense of responsibility and psychological resistance, and this process is regulated by goal self-efficacy. Design 5 experimental studies to validate the model for the system. Experiment 1 (field experiment) examines the overall inhibitory effect of social norm conflicts on energy-saving behavior (H1). Experiment 2 (Scenario Simulation Experiment) focuses on the mediating effects of sense of responsibility and psychological resistance on the relationship between normative conflict and energy-saving behavior (H2, H3). On this basis, Experiment 3 further explored the causal effects of the two mediating pathways (H2, H3) by directly manipulating sense of responsibility (Experiment 3a) and psychological resistance (Experiment 3b). Experiment 4 (scenario simulation experiment) used target self-efficacy as a moderating variable to examine its moderating effects on the two pathways of responsibility and psychological resistance (H4, H5). Finally, Experiment 5 (Field Experiment) regresses to real scenarios and embeds self-efficacy information based on Experiment 1, providing data support for whether it can alleviate the negative effects of normative conflicts through real behavior.