ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1625538
What Drives Waste Sorting? A Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior Model Analysis with Hybrid Modeling
Provisionally accepted
- Anhui University, Hefei, China
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Successful promotion of waste sorting in Chinese cities requires active engagement of residents. To motivate urban residents to conduct waste sorting, it is vital to determine the fundamental elements that drive waste sorting behavior. Based on the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior model, this study combined Structural Equation Modeling and System Dynamics methods to examine both the static and dynamic relationships between various factors and waste sorting behavior among Shanghai residents in China. Results show that capability (knowledge), opportunity (infrastructure, subjective norms), and motivation (habit and intention) are positively correlated with sorting behavior, with the opportunity factors also linked to motivation factors indirectly. Opportunity exhibits the strongest statistical association with waste sorting behavior, making infrastructure and social norms key intervention points. Post-management of these factors is crucial for sustainable waste sorting promotion in the waste sorting behavior management cycle. These findings offer theoretical and practical guidance for urban waste sorting management efforts.
Keywords: Waste sorting behavior, Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior model, Structural Equation Modeling, system dynamics, China
Received: 09 May 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Beijia Zhang, Anhui University, Hefei, China
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