Neural signatures of pro-environmental behavior: Self-regulation mediates the effect of resting-state functional connectivity on pro-environmental behavior

Pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) is increasingly conceptualized as a self-regulatory challenge. People often need to resist immediate convenience and align everyday choices with longer-term environmental goals. Yet neuroscientific evidence directly linking PEB to self-regulation remains limited. In this study, we used resting-state fMRI in 148 university students to identify intrinsic network signatures associated with PEB and to test self-regulation as a mechanistic pathway. Whole-brain functional connectivity density (FCD) mapping showed that individual differences in PEB were associated with FCD in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a region implicated in inhibitory control. Follow-up seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses further indicated that functional coupling between the IFG and the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was associated with PEB. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicated that trait self-regulation accounted for a substantial portion of both brain–PEB associations. Together, these findings provide a resting-state network account of PEB and highlight self-regulation as a central pathway through which intrinsic brain organization relates to PEB.