Same neighborhood, different green intentions: the effect of hukou origin on Chinese citizens’ pro-environmental behaviors

Same neighborhood, different green intentions: the effect of hukou origin on Chinese citizens’ pro-environmental behaviors | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Same neighborhood, different green intentions: the effect of hukou origin on Chinese citizens’ pro-environmental behaviors Lan Zhou, Zhe She This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7078936/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Environmental governance is a critical component establishing sustainable ecosystems during urbanization. However, environmental self-governance in urban communities often faces challenges from population diversification. In China's urbanization process, the evolving demographic policies have facilitated large-scale migration from rural to urban areas, granting migrants with equal citizenship status and shared neighborhood environments, while environmentally relevant disparities could still root in early-life social origins, and continue to undermine the effectiveness of environmental governance. Using micro-level survey data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS), this study examines whether early-life hukou status influences urban residents' pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), and discuss PEBs in public and private sphere. We explore the psychological mechanisms of environmental values, ecological awareness, and social connectedness. The results indicate that residents with rural hukou origin participate more frequently in individual-level environmental activities such as donations, protests, and petitions compared to urban natives, while demonstrating lower engagement in collective environmental actions, particularly organizational membership. Contrary to expectations, this behavioral divergence does not stem from differences in environmental values, but mainly through two mediating pathways of attenuated place attachment and ascription of responsibility. Our findings demonstrate that rural origins weaken residents' local social ties and alter their responsibility attribution patterns regarding environmental public goods. We reveal significant gaps in community participation between policy-driven hukou converters and urban natives. Besides, longer urban residence and local education exposure both can attenuate rural-urban PEB disparities. The findings of this study offer critical insights for constructing environmental governance systems during urbanization, highlighting population integration as a key challenge for community-based environmental self-governance in contemporary China. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Social science/Environmental studies Scientific community and society/Geography Social science/Geography Social science/Sociology Hukou origin Pro-environmental behavior Place attachment Environmental values Population urbanization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 01 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 08 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 30 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 24 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 06 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 31 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7078936","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":528302660,"identity":"9057934d-f0ac-477c-b249-64eb46182648","order_by":0,"name":"Lan Zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hangzhou Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""},{"id":528302661,"identity":"7fe921a0-0794-443d-9a87-b850d0073e89","order_by":1,"name":"Zhe 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