Green With Envy: Psychological and Social Predictors of Lawn Fertilizer Application

Fertilizer application has many known environmental impacts, and household use of fertilizer for lawn cultivation contributes a significant amount toward these impacts. Previous study provides a compelling narrative of the social, political, and cultural factors that drive fertilizer application; however, the psychological factors involved are not well known. This article examines factors that motivate fertilizer application using surveys among a sample of 194 residents within an urban watershed. Measures included aesthetic preferences, financial concerns, social norms, and environmental concerns. A principal components analysis (PCA) revealed four orthogonal factors. Among them, individual interests and social pressures positively predicted fertilizer application, as did the likelihood that children and pets play on a resident's lawn. Environmental concerns were not predictive. These data contribute to an evolving storyline suggesting that households make tradeoffs between lawn aesthetics and concern for the environment and exposure to chemicals in part due to strong social pressures surrounding lawn maintenance.