Wasting Despite Motivation: Exploring the Interplay of Perceived Ability and Perceived Difficulty on Food Waste Behavior Through Brehm’s Motivational Intensity Theory

Household food waste remains a persistent challenge despite widespread pro-environmental intentions. Drawing on Brehm’s Motivational Intensity Theory, this study examined how perceived difficulty and perceived ability interact with motivation to predict self-reported food waste. We surveyed 939 participants in Flanders and Spain, measuring motivation to avoid waste, self-rated perceived ability to manage food, meal planning perceived difficulty, and food waste. Moderated moderation analyses revealed that motivation and perceived ability each independently predicted lower waste. Crucially, a significant three-way interaction showed that motivation most effectively reduced waste when perceived difficulty was low and perceived ability was high; when perceived difficulty exceeded perceived ability, motivation had no mitigating effect. These findings underscore that effort mobilization influenced by both individual capacity and situational demands is key to closing the intention–behavior gap in food waste. Practically, interventions should go beyond raising awareness to simplify tasks and bolster consumers’ skills, aligning action demands with realistic effort levels.