Americans Recommend Smaller Ecological Footprints When Reminded of Intrinsic American Values of Self-Expression, Family, and Generosity

Abstract

Extrinsic values for money, image, and status are known to be associated with less sustainable ecological attitudes and to be relatively high among American citizens. But America also has a long history of prioritizing the intrinsic values of self-expression, family, and helping the world to be a better place, aims which past studies show promote more sustainable environmental behaviors. We therefore tested whether activating these types of American identities, compared to various control conditions, would affect U.S. college students' policy recommendations about the size of Ecological Footprints (EFs) Americans should have. Results showed that participants primed with an intrinsic American identity recommended significantly lower EFs than did participants primed with an extrinsic American identity, an unqualified American identity, or two control identities (i.e., human and University of Missouri student). Results were stronger for the housing and travel components of the EF than for the food component. Findings suggest that communicators and educators might do well to attempt to activate the aspects of the American national character connected with intrinsic values in their attempts to promote acceptance of policies that support environmental sustainability.

How far is your money from your mouth? The effects of intrinsic relative to extrinsic values on willingness to pay and protect the environment

“…However, the utilization of a priming component in the current report helps contribute to a growing body of literature suggesting that values may be driving attitudes and behaviors, and thus, that this relationship is likely causative, rather than correlative, in nature. This area of study had for the most part been restricted to the effect of priming human mortality has on subsequent attitudes and behaviors (Fritsche & Hafner, 2012), and has only very recently been expanded to values-related identities (Sheldon et al, 2011). The present research's success in priming different values among Chinese students and by that changing their money allocation behaviors show not only that values are indeed susceptible to priming, but also that their influence on subsequent behaviors may be universal.…”

“…It is therefore important that the relationships found are those that have also been found in western samples (e.g., Brown & Kasser, 2005;Sheldon & McGregor, 2000;Sheldon et al, , 2011, and in reviews in which many of the samples surveyed consisted of university students (Hurst et al, 2013). The current results also have particular worth in describing individuals in one of the fastest growing regions in the world, particularly when applied to other Chinese cities at comparable rates of urban development facing similar environmental concerns (Warren-Rhodes & Koenig, 2001).…”

“…The direction of the relationship between values, and environmentally-related attitudes and behaviors, is still under investigation (e.g., see Sheldon et al, 2011;Weinstein et al, 2009). However, the utilization of a priming component in the current report helps contribute to a growing body of literature suggesting that values may be driving attitudes and behaviors, and thus, that this relationship is likely causative, rather than correlative, in nature.…”

“…Importantly, priming of one set of specific values can actually affect the salience of other specific values (Maio, Pakizeh, Cheung, & Rees, 2009). In one study, for example, American students recommended smaller ecological footprints after being reminded of intrinsic values of self-expression, family, and generosity, than when reminded of extrinsic values of wealth, competitiveness, beauty and fame (Sheldon, Nichols, & Kasser, 2011). In addition, Chilton, Crompton, Kasser, Maio, and Nolan (2012) found that even in individuals for whom extrinsic values are particularly important, simply asking them to consider the importance they attach to intrinsic values changed their subsequent discourse.…”

Global Climate Change: A Social Identity Perspective on Informational and Structural Interventions

“…no longer represent in-group norms) and could elicit rejection from other group members. For instance, Sheldon, Nichols, and Kasser ( 2011 ) examined the infl uence of identity salience and content on recommended carbon footprints in the United States. They exposed participants to three identities without explicitly mentioning identity content (Missouri student, human, or American) and one identity (American) explicitly mentioning content as prototypical (e.g.…”