Anthropomorphism refers to the assignment of human-like attributes to otherwise non-human entities. In the pro-environmentalism literature, there is indication that anthropomorphizing nature can promote green behaviors. The current research examines how anthropomorphizing water can promote water conservation behaviors via environmental locus of control—one primary impediment to people acting in an environmentally-friendly fashion. A randomized controlled field trial was carried out across three apartment buildings in Melbourne, Australia, from July 2018 to June 2019. At the end of the first six months, which served as our baseline, half of the households had received monthly water conservation tips within an e-mail newsletter format with water anthropomorphized; the other half received the same tips without anthropomorphism. In the latter six months, households in the experimental group consumed fewer liters of water than those in the control group. Our end-of-year survey revealed that anthropomorphizing water increased responding households’ internal environmental of control, which then encouraged water conservation behaviors. A follow-up laboratory experiment replicated the results within a controlled atmosphere. Both theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

拟人化是指将类人属性分配给其他非人类实体。在支持环保主义的文献中，有迹象表明将自然拟人化可以促进绿色行为。目前的研究考察了拟人化的水如何通过环境控制点促进节水行为——这是人们以环保方式行事的主要障碍。2018 年 7 月至 2019 年 6 月，在澳大利亚墨尔本的三栋公寓楼中进行了一项随机对照现场试验。在作为我们的基线的前六个月结束时，一半的家庭在将水拟人化的电子邮件通讯格式；另一半收到了相同的提示，没有拟人化。在后六个月，实验组的家庭用水量少于对照组的家庭。我们的年终调查显示，将水拟人化增加了响应家庭的内部控制环境，进而鼓励了节水行为。后续实验室实验在受控气氛中复制了结果。讨论了理论贡献和实践意义。