(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 08 - Women are more virtuous than men, but also young people more than the elderly and condominiums rather than those who live in single houses.
To say this is the study "Energy efficiency and individual and community behaviors in Italy" of the Social Psychology department of the State University of Milan and of the Energy Efficiency Unit department of Enea on the psychological mechanisms that lead to effective behaviors in domestic consumption that can help to improve energy policies.
Sustainability therefore lives more in the fairer sex who have a greater perception of the effectiveness of their individual actions, while the male gender is more skeptical about the real impact of the individual's behavior on the social system as a whole: for example, women wear heavier clothes in winter. and use large household appliances with full loads convinced to reduce energy consumption. The analysis was conducted on a sample of households in Lombardy - whose actions and interventions implemented in the last five years to reduce their energy bills were examined - as part of the national campaign on energy efficiency "Italia in Classe A ", promoted by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The study highlights how different energy subcultures often coexist within a single family unit, deriving from variables such as gender, age, type of home and commitment to sustainability issues. The elderly are sensitive to saving electricity and water for economic purposes, while younger people are sensitive to a more ideological approach, with a greater culture of sustainability, more open to change.
Sustainable mobility is central for part-time employees, sharing (sharing of services) and energy saving for self-employed workers, while sharing of services is important for full-time employees.
Italians in general are, however, among the most sustainable in Europe for purchasing choices and awareness of consumption, according to a survey by the Bsh Group (among the world leaders in the household appliances sector) which showed that 9 out of 10 Italians are informed on the characteristics of sustainability before and during the purchase of a large household appliance, especially through the energy label of the product (60%), the advice of a salesman (56%) and online comparison sites (53%).
Sustainability influences the consumption decisions of more than three quarters of Italians, placing Italy in second place in Europe after Spain.
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