Feel good, stay green: Positive affect promotes pro-environmental behaviors and mitigates compensatory “mental bookkeeping” effects

Chatelain, Gilles; Hille, Stefanie Lena; Sander, David; Patel, Martin Kumar; Hahnel, Ulf J.J.; Brosch, Tobias

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.02.002

Cited by 74 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Furthermore, the evidence emerging from this study does not support the concern of negative spillover effect in field studies that could potentially nullify or even reverse the intervention effect on the targeted behavior, but corroborates earlier findings suggesting that behavior can, under certain circumstances, positively spill over from one behavior to other related behaviors (e.g., Lanzini and Thøgersen, 2014 ; Chatelain et al, 2018 ). The observed spillover effects are not very strong, although small effect sizes are not unusual in the context of spillover (see Blanken et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Using a Goal Theoretical Perspective to Reduce Negative and Promote Positive Spillover After a Bike-to-Work Campaign

et al. 2019

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Behavioral change interventions often focus on a specific behavior over a limited time period; for example, a bike-to-work intervention that incentivizes cycling to work over 2 months. While such interventions can successfully initiate behavior, they run the risk of triggering negative spillover effects after completion: Reaching the end of an intervention could reduce the motivation to maintain the behavior; or an increase in the targeted behavior (e.g., cycling to work more often) could lead to negative spillover across behaviors (e.g., cycling less in leisure time). Using a goal theoretical perspective, we tested whether an intervention focusing on a specific behavior during a limited time period (a subordinate goal) triggers negative spillover, and whether superordinate goals and/or action steps reduce negative or promote positive spillover. We conducted an experimental field study (N = 1,269) in the context of a bike-to-work campaign with a longitudinal multilevel design. Participants across all four experimental conditions had the campaign goal of cycling to work for a maximum of 2 months (a subordinate goal). A quarter of the participants additionally generated superordinate goals, a quarter action steps and a quarter superordinate goals and action steps. The last quarter was a control condition which only set the subordinate campaign goal. Surprisingly, the intervention caused no negative and some positive spillover effects. Participants increased the frequency of cycling to work across all groups and the increase could be maintained up to 2 months after the campaign. An increase in cycling to work spilled over to an increase in cycling in leisure time and to an increase in eating fruits and vegetables. No spillover effects were found regarding exercising and eating sweets and snacks. Participants focusing additionally on a superordinate goal cycled to work more frequently at the end of the campaign than the control group. Contrary to our expectations, the maintenance of cycling to work over time and the positive spillover effects across behaviors did not differ due to the goal manipulation. These results reduce the concern that interventions focusing on a subordinate goal could trigger negative spillover effects and show the need for additional experimental field studies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Using a Goal Theoretical Perspective to Reduce Negative and Promote Positive Spillover After a Bike-to-Work Campaign

et al. 2019

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“…A limitation of the current research was that we did not analyze the textual data in a qualitative manner, which might have provided information about whether the topics and behaviors listed by participants were similar under the two thinking conditions. Furthermore, asking participants to list mitigation behaviors that they would enact might encourage them to assume a green identity and create positive feelings, both of which have been shown to promote pro-environmental behavior [50,56]. Given that participants in the two thinking groups listed mitigation behaviors that they "would enact" in the future, the primed positive feeling or green identity may already have been present.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

Sung

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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Low engagement with climate change may stem from the tendency to discount the distant benefits of mitigation action. Hence, a reduced tendency to discount the future should be associated with increased involvement in climate change mitigation. Prior research has demonstrated that episodic future thinking (EFT; i.e., envisioning future events that involve self-projection) can reduce discounting. In two laboratory studies, we showed that engaging in EFT about mitigation action was associated with a lower discounting tendency toward future environmental gains (Experiments 1 and 2) and a greater tendency to act pro-environmentally, as manifested by using air conditioning in an energy-saving manner (Experiment 1), choosing a meal with less environmental impact (Experiment 2), and willingness to participate in beach cleaning (Experiment 2). The present findings suggest that engagement in EFT about mitigation action may represent a promising strategy for improving personal involvement in climate change.

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“…Previously published reviews (Effron and Monin, 2010;Blanken et al, 2015) demonstrate the wide range of definitions and operationalizations used in this field of study. While there is some evidence that balancing effects may be stronger (weaker) when different types of behavior represent similar (different) domains (Chatelain et al, 2018), the large body of evidence shows that balancing effects are not specific to one ethical domain but occur across domains -most likely based on similar, if not the same, mechanisms. Despite this, we are careful to generalize our results to other domains or argue that balancing effects in general would be dependent on social recognition.…”

Section: Limitations and Strengths Of Both Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbolic Moral Self-Completion – Social Recognition of Prosocial Behavior Reduces Subsequent Moral Striving

Susewind

Walkowitz

2020

Front. Psychol.

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According to theories on moral balancing, a prosocial act can decrease people's motivation to engage in subsequent prosocial behavior, because people feel that they have already achieved a positive moral self-perception. However, there is also empirical evidence showing that people actually need to be recognized by others in order to establish and affirm their self-perception through their prosocial actions. Without social recognition, moral balancing could possibly fail. In this paper, we investigate in two laboratory experiments how social recognition of prosocial behavior influences subsequent moral striving. Building on self-completion theory, we hypothesize that social recognition of prosocial behavior (self-serving behavior) weakens (strengthens) subsequent moral striving. In Study 1, we show that a prosocial act leads to less subsequent helpfulness when it was socially recognized as compared to a situation without social recognition. Conversely, when a self-serving act is socially recognized, it encourages subsequent helpfulness. In Study 2, we replicate the effect of social recognition on moral striving in a more elaborated experimental setting and with a larger participant sample. We again find that a socially recognized prosocial act leads to less subsequent helpfulness compared to an unrecognized prosocial act. Our results shed new light on the boundary conditions of moral balancing effects and underscore the view that these effects can be conceptualized as a dynamic of self-completion.

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Feel good, stay green: Positive affect promotes pro-environmental behaviors and mitigates compensatory “mental bookkeeping” effects

Cited by 74 publications

References 56 publications

Using a Goal Theoretical Perspective to Reduce Negative and Promote Positive Spillover After a Bike-to-Work Campaign

Using a Goal Theoretical Perspective to Reduce Negative and Promote Positive Spillover After a Bike-to-Work Campaign

Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

Symbolic Moral Self-Completion – Social Recognition of Prosocial Behavior Reduces Subsequent Moral Striving

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