“I Live Sustainably”: Exploring Sustainable Living Narratives Through Identity and Motivation

Garnelo-Gomez, I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8391-3221, Money, K. and Littlewood, D. (2019) “I Live Sustainably”: Exploring Sustainable Living Narratives Through Identity and Motivation. In: Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2019, 9-13 August 2019, Boston, USA. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2019.14592abstract

Abstract/Summary

In this paper, we examine sustainable living through a lens of identity expression and motivational drives. Drawing upon qualitative research with 35 self-identifying sustainable individuals, we explore how such individuals express their identities through sustainable living, and examine what motivates them to live sustainably. Through in-depth analysis of the psychological factors behind sustainable living, we develop a novel typology of sustainable individuals based on the interplay between identity expression and motivational drives. In this typology, sustainable individuals are categorized into four groups: the holistically sustainable, the privately sustainable, the publicly sustainable, and the accidentally sustainable. Our findings provide insights into the interplay between identity expression and motivational drives in sustainable living. They show that individuals may express their identities through sustainable living differently, depending on personal or social identity salience and motivational drives. This research has implications for practice and those seeking to encourage more sustainable living.