Ethnicity and acculturation of environmental attitudes and behaviors: A cross-cultural study with Brazilians in Canada

The aim of this research is to identify the possible acculturation of sustainable attitudes and behaviors by ethnic groups in a developed country. A descriptive research, qualitative and quantitative in nature, was performed with Brazilians living in Canada. The comparison, through self-assessment, of their current attitudes and behaviors with the attitudes and behaviors they had while living in Brazil revealed that the knowledge and the feelings were already pro-environmental, but the behavior was not, and it really changed after the migration, especially with regard to waste separation and the replacement of plastic bags for their own shopping bags. This result shows that even when there already exists the willingness to adopt sustainable behaviors, the lack of norms, laws and infrastructure influences the attitude-behavior gap.