Russian environmental psychology is not well known. The researchers wanted to understand how Russians relate to nature and whether that affects their environmental behaviour. They also investigated a mix of post-Soviet political, psychological, sociological views and affect on behaviour.

Previous research in Russia and Kazakhstan found a relationship between environmental concern predicting pro-environmental behaviour, but this was not the same for Russians feeling connected to nature. They analysed both environmental action and behaviour:

In this study we focus on five groups of pro-environmental action as measured by the scale of pro-environmental behaviour designed specifically for the Russian context (Ivanova et al., 2023): waste management, resource conservation, social behaviour, sustainable purchasing and climate-relevant action.

Agissova, Ivanova, Sautkina, 2023

Political terminology in post-Soviet space has different meanings for example, liberal or conservative. They expected to find a relationship between more traditional, social conservative views (law and order, traditional morality) and environmental concern, but did not expect to find a positive relationship between strong patriotism, military support and environmental concern.

462 research participants completed surveys using online platforms, 56.7 % female and56.5% with a post-secondary degree. Over a third lived in Moscow or St Petersburg with the remainder across other Russian cities. The researchers used statistical analysis to evaluate the responses and designed an equation model, also with statistical tests to validate the data.

They did not find a positive relationship between climate-relevant actions as a pro-environmental behaviour which may be due to variance in views about anthropogenic causes of climate change; but other pro-environmental behaviours were predicted successfully. Feeling connected to nature compared with other environmental concerns, was the most strong predictor of environmental behaviour. The researchers suggest this may be due to feeling unable to act with larger environmental conditions, previous views on collective action, personal obligation to nature; but this needs further investigation.

They did not find that altruistic values led to sustainable purchasing, waste management but found a relationship between level of environmental knowledge and waste management. They found a positive relationship between traditional morality and sustainable purchasing, suggesting a relationship between local food growing and beliefs of older residents.

They also found a positive relationship between institutional trust and environmental action, suggesting that more civic participation leads to a belief in resolving environmental concerns. There was greater trust in independent institutions. Positive views of Russian by the participants also included positive views of Russia’s environment and nature generally. More militaristic patriotism was not the case but less clear, which the researchers suggest depends on views of what patriotism and environmentalism mean to people.

The researchers recommend that the relationship between Russians and how close or connected they feel to nature as the strongest predictor should help shape government and independent environmental communications and actions. As climate-change discussions in Russia continue to mature, there may be an increase in climate-relevant actions but further research is needed.

Fatikha Agissova, Alexandra Ivanova & Elena Sautkina (2023), Political values, patriotism, institutional trust and connectedness to nature predict environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour (Los valores políticos, el patriotismo, la confianza en las instituciones y la conexión con la naturaleza predicen las actitudes y la conducta proambientales),PsyEcology,DOI: 10.1080/21711976.2023.2204012