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Sustainable Mobility Planning Under the Power of Emotion: Affective Influences...
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Sustainable Mobility Planning Under the Power of Emotion: Affective Influences on Pro-Environmental Behaviors

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 2374

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mirko Duradoni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Education, Languages, Interculture, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy
Interests: readiness to change; pro-environmental behaviors; connectedness to nature
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Luca Simione

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of International Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the International Studies, UNINT, Rome, Italy
Interests: mindfulness; consciousness; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of pro-environmental behavior (PEB) research has traditionally concentrated on the cognitive and attitudinal antecedents related to climate change, with less emphasis on the affective dimensions that may play a critical role. These include affective responses to climate change, emotional reactions to specific PEBs, and affective connections to the places where these behaviors occur. This Special Issue seeks to bridge this gap by providing empirical evidence on how emotions affect and influence PEBs, with particular attention given to sustainable transportation and mobility behaviors.

Focusing on sustainable transportation is especially timely, as cities worldwide face growing environmental and social challenges tied to mobility patterns and urban development. A better understanding of the affective drivers behind transportation-related PEBs could inform policies and interventions that support more sustainable cities and lifestyles. By exploring how affective responses intersect with cognitive factors, this Special Issue aims to enhance our comprehension of the complex process of change toward sustainable practices. An important area of interest is the interplay between emotional and cognitive elements in shaping readiness to change, which is a construct that reflects individuals’ openness and motivation to engage in sustainable actions.

In this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of original research articles and review papers on topics that may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Emotional responses to climate change and their impact on PEBs;
  • The affective dimension of sustainable transportation choices;
  • Place-based effects and their influence on pro-environmental actions;
  • The interaction between cognitive and affective components in sustainability behavior change;
  • Advanced modeling of readiness to change in the context of PEBs.

By focusing on these themes, this Special Issue aims to advance the field’s understanding of how affect and cognition combine to drive meaningful shifts toward environmental sustainability, especially within sustainable transportation.

Dr. Mirko Duradoni
Dr. Luca Simione
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pro-environmental behavior (PEB)
  • sustainable transportation
  • climate change and emotions
  • readiness to change

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 874 KB  
Article
Cross-National Comparison of Sociocultural Determinants of Environmental Awareness: Citizens in China and Singapore
by Jin Sun and Ze He
Sustainability 2026, 18(7), 3314; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18073314 - 29 Mar 2026
Viewed by 364
Abstract
While environmental awareness is crucial for ecological governance, its sociocultural foundations across different macro-institutional contexts remain underexplored. This study compares the sociocultural correlates of environmental awareness in China and Singapore—two developmental states with state-centric governance but distinct institutional configurations. Integrating Sociocultural Theory and [...] Read more.
While environmental awareness is crucial for ecological governance, its sociocultural foundations across different macro-institutional contexts remain underexplored. This study compares the sociocultural correlates of environmental awareness in China and Singapore—two developmental states with state-centric governance but distinct institutional configurations. Integrating Sociocultural Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, this exploratory study analyzes World Values Survey data Wave 7 using ordered logistic and probit models. We identify three key patterns. First, both nations exhibit a pervasive “attitude-behavior gap,” with cognitive environmentalism significantly outpacing actual civic action. Second, universally, social trust is correlated with environmental attitudes, while political action and religiosity are positively linked to actual behavior. Third, distinct institutional mechanisms emerge: China reflects a “state-dependent environmentalism” where attitudes are associated with post-materialist values and institutional deterrence, and behavioral participation is strongly related to government trust. Conversely, Singapore displays an “institutionalized civic environmentalism,” where routine political action shows a strong positive association with environmental attitudes—an association neutralized in China. These findings demonstrate that pathways to ecological sustainability in developmental states are structurally divergent, necessitating context-specific governance interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Mobility Planning Under the Power of Emotion: Affective Influences on Pro-Environmental Behaviors)
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25 pages, 2613 KB  
Article
Climate Emotions and Readiness to Change: Evidences from Generalized Additive Models
by Marina Baroni, Anna Enrica Tosti, Giulia Colombini, Silvia Braschi, Andrea Guazzini and Mirko Duradoni
Sustainability 2025, 17(21), 9627; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219627 - 29 Oct 2025
Viewed by 1451
Abstract
The growing negative consequences of climate change support the need to deepen and investigate factors that may sustain the engagement of pro-environmental behaviors. In this scenario, eco-emotions represent a key factor that can potentially shape sustainable behaviors. In keeping with this, the present [...] Read more.
The growing negative consequences of climate change support the need to deepen and investigate factors that may sustain the engagement of pro-environmental behaviors. In this scenario, eco-emotions represent a key factor that can potentially shape sustainable behaviors. In keeping with this, the present study aimed at observing the potential relationships between eco-emotions and readiness to change (RTC), namely a psychological construct closely related to pro-environmental behaviors. Specifically the RTC dimensions were the following: perceived importance of the problem, motivation, self-efficacy, effectiveness of the proposed solution, social support, action, and perceived readiness. In detail, Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) were performed in order to detect both linear and non-linear associations between eco-emotions and the dimensions of RTC by assuming a complex perspective. The final sample was composed of 252 participants (mean age = 32.99, SD = 14.640). The results pointed out several significant associations (both linear and non-linear) between eco-emotions and the RTC dimensions. In detail, the perceived importance of the problem was linearly associated with anger and anxiety, while sorrow and enthusiasm showed non-linear effects. Furthermore, motivation was linearly linked to anger and guilt and non-linearly to contempt, enthusiasm, and sorrow. In terms of self-efficacy, anger, enthusiasm, and sorrow showed linear relationships, whereas isolation showed a non-linear association. Perceived effectiveness of the proposed solution was linearly related to enthusiasm and sorrow and non-linearly to anger, powerlessness, isolation, and anxiety. Similarly, social support was linearly connected with enthusiasm, isolation, and sorrow, and non-linearly with powerlessness and anxiety. Moreover, action was primarily driven by anger in a linear relationship, while enthusiasm, powerlessness, guilt, and anxiety showed non-linear associations. Finally, perceived readiness was linearly related to anxiety and non-linearly to anger, contempt, enthusiasm, powerlessness, guilt, and sorrow. These findings should be interpreted in light of the study’s limitations, including its cross-sectional nature, reliance on self-reported measures, use of snowball sampling, and sample demographic characteristics, all of which may affect the generalizability of the results. Nevertheless, the results pointed out the presence of several significant linear (e.g., anxiety and the perceived importance of the problem) and non-linear (e.g., contempt and motivation) associations between various eco-emotions and RTC factors. The findings underscore the need for a complex approach to this field of research, suggesting that further studies, policies, and environmental awareness programs should consider the multifaceted nature of these phenomena in order to develop effective and valuable interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Mobility Planning Under the Power of Emotion: Affective Influences on Pro-Environmental Behaviors)
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