t “perceived moral obligation seems to contribute to the formation of intentions to perform dishonest behaviours” even if the significance of someone’s personal moral obligation is limited. Conner & Armitage (1998) agreed with this statement and said that including a measure of personal norms when analysing moral of ethical behaviour is appropriate and should be considered. Given the positive effect that recycling can have on the environment such as diminishing waste in landfills or reduced pollution in the oceans it is quite obvious that the choice to recycle can be considered a moral decision (Chu & Chiu, 2003). Tonglet et al. (2004) when researching this variable did notice its significance but couldn’t fully explain environmental behaviour but makes a contribution along with other variables towards motivating an individual to recycle.

An additional psychological factor is the degree to which an individual feels the impact or if they are having an impact when deciding whether to or not to behave environmentally. Firstly we can analyse the literature of the impact that the threat to an individual’s well-being has on influencing behaviour. According to Baldassare and Katz (1992) the threat to an individual’s well-being is the biggest influencer on people’s behaviour, and especially among students; overriding many of the other factors discussed above. These findings have been further reinforced by studies conducted by Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera (1987) emphasising the positive relationship between environmental concern and environmental behaviour. The study also concluded the difference between the younger and older generations. While the older age groups were most associated with their overall environmental practices, younger generations were more associated with behaviour relevant to environmental threat, and is something therefore to take into account when looking at methods to target young students. Given the huge scale of environmental issues worldwide it wouldn’t come as a huge shock that individuals may feel their recycling efforts wouldn’t have a significant impact whatsoever. This idea was highlighted by Hooper and Nielsen (1991) who researched the extend to which a behaviour will have a tangible impact. They, too little surprise, found that individuals that thought their actions were making an impact were more likely to act environmentally. The idea therefore that individuals need to feel personally responsible and feel that they are playing a part in helping the environment will play a significant role in future policy making (Maibach, 1993).