The positive effect of pro‐environmental behavior on eudaimonic well‐being in young adults: a daily diary study using the within‐person encouragement design

Introduction: Existing literature has highlighted the relevance of Pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs)—actions intended to benefit the environment—to Eudaimonic well-being (EWB, i.e., meaning in life and connectedness to others). However, most research has focused on stable individual differences and utilized cross-sectional designs, giving limited attention to the momentary fluctuations of PEBs within individuals. This study aimed to investigate the daily impact of PEBs on EWB from a causal perspective, examining whether manipulating daily PEBs would result in higher levels of EWB on those days. Method: We adopted the Within-Person Encouragement Design, an experimental approach employing instrumental variable estimation, in a Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling framework. Participants were 63 Italian young adults assessed over 21 days and who received 11 randomized encouragements (i.e., “Today we ask you to implement more pro-environmental actions than you would normally enact on a typical day”). Results: A significant positive adherence effect of the encouragement on PEB, and a significant positive treatment effect of PEB on EWB was found. Conclusion: These findings are promising for advancing successful behavioral interventions designed to encourage daily PEBs in younger generations and highlight the importance of PEBs for experiencing a more meaningful life and enhanced connectedness with others.