Studies on environmental behavior commonly assume single respondents to represent their entire household or employ proxy-reporting, where participants answer for other household members. It is contested whether these practices yield valid results. Therefore, we interviewed 84 couples, wherein both household members provided self- and proxy-reports for their partner. For use of electrical household appliances, consumption of hot water, space heating, everyday mobility, and environmental values, many variables fail to achieve criteria for validity. Consistency (agreement between self-reports of household members) is higher if behaviors are undertaken jointly or negotiated between partners. Accuracy (agreement of proxy-reports with corresponding self-reports) is higher for routine behaviors and for behaviors easily observable by the partner. Overall, indices perform better than items on single behaviors. We caution against employing individual responses in place of the entire household. Interventions for energy conservation should approach the specific person undertaking the target behavior.

中文翻译：

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家庭不是一个人：成年夫妇亲环境行为的一致性和代理报告的准确性

对环境行为的研究通常假设单个受访者代表他们的整个家庭或采用代理报告，参与者回答其他家庭成员。这些做法是否产生有效结果存在争议。因此，我们采访了 84 对夫妇，其中两个家庭成员都为他们的伴侣提供了自我报告和代理报告。对于家用电器的使用、热水的消耗、空间供暖、日常出行和环境价值，许多变量未能达到有效性标准。如果行为是共同采取的或在合作伙伴之间协商的，则一致性（家庭成员的自我报告之间的一致性）更高。对于日常行为和伴侣容易观察到的行为，准确性（代理报告与相应的自我报告的一致性）更高。全面的，指数在单一行为上的表现优于项目。我们告诫不要使用个人回答来代替整个家庭。节能干预措施应针对实施目标行为的特定人员。