ORIGINAL RESEARCH
A Configurational Analysis of Factors Affecting
Low-Carbon Behavior of College Students
Based on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability
Framework
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College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology,
Xi’an 710021, Shaanxi, China
Submission date: 2023-08-13
Final revision date: 2023-12-11
Acceptance date: 2023-12-28
Online publication date: 2024-05-29
Publication date: 2024-06-27
Corresponding author
Bin Wang
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(5):5341-5356
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ABSTRACT
Individual low-carbon behavior (LCB) plays an important role in reducing carbon emissions
and achieving climate mitigation goals to build a low-carbon society. Based on data collected from
college students in Xi’an City, this study proposes a Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) integrated
framework that simultaneously considers eight elements and analyzes their combinatorial effects
on the LCB of college students through the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis ( fsQCA)
method. The analysis results show that: (1) low-carbon knowledge (LK) is a necessary condition for
the implementation of LCB among college students and, along with behavioral intention (BI), plays
universal and important roles in LCB implementation. (2) the combination of MOA conditions can
be summarized into four different paths affecting LCB implementation among college students:
1) publicity and education (PE)-driven under the motivation-dominant mode; 2) the opportunity-pull
mode; 3) enjoyment perception (EP)-driven under the motivation-dominant mode; and 4) the abilitypush
mode. (3) Each mode represents different characteristics and coupling paths to achieve LCB
implementation among college students. This study enriches the literature on LCB and provides
potential implications for guiding college students’ LCB and improving low-carbon management.