2017
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01065
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Protecting the Environment for Self-interested Reasons: Altruism Is Not the Only Pathway to Sustainability

Abstract: Concerns for environmental issues are important drivers of sustainable and pro-environmental behaviors, and can be differentiated between those with a self-enhancing (egoistic) vs. self-transcendent (biospheric) psychological foundation. Yet to date, the dominant approach for promoting pro-environmental behavior has focused on highlighting the benefits to others or nature, rather than appealing to self-interest. Building on the Inclusion Model for Environmental Concern, we argue that egoistic and biospheric en… Show more

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Cited by 157 publications
(136 citation statements)
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References 74 publications
(128 reference statements)
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“…Further, our study contributes to the theory of value–belief–norm of environmentalism by demonstrating the interactions between value bases and their surprising effects on pro‐environment actions. Few prior studies had proposed that interactions between consumer values would result in contradictory effects (De Dominicis et al, ; Turaga et al, ). Ours is the first study to reveal that egoism reduces the contradiction in the effects of social and biospheric altruism on environmental actions.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…Further, our study contributes to the theory of value–belief–norm of environmentalism by demonstrating the interactions between value bases and their surprising effects on pro‐environment actions. Few prior studies had proposed that interactions between consumer values would result in contradictory effects (De Dominicis et al, ; Turaga et al, ). Ours is the first study to reveal that egoism reduces the contradiction in the effects of social and biospheric altruism on environmental actions.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Following the logic of the theory of paradox, and in light of individual financial scarcity, social altruism should have a negative impact on the eagerness to pay, and biospheric altruism should have a positive impact. However, literature (De Dominicis, Schultz, & Bonaiuto, ) observes that individuals are reluctant to indulge in environmentally sustainable behaviors if they perceive the personal costs to be high. When the up‐front investments in renewable energy solutions are salient, individuals are less prone to social and biospheric altruism.…”
Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This tripartite model is important because previous researchers have shown that egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric values differentially predict engagement in PEB. Those harboring egoistic concern are much less likely to engage in reported PEB (Arnocky & Stroink, 2011;Arnocky et al, 2007;Davis & Stroink, 2016;Schultz et al, 2005), unless framed in terms of self-interest and personal benefits (De Dominicis, Schultz, & Bonaiuto, 2017). This may be because egoistic concern denotes a shallow level of nature connectedness, an individualistic definition of self, and a proclivity toward enhancing one's own gains over others (i.e., self-enhancement; Davis & Stroink, 2016;De Groot & Steg, 2009;Schultz, 2001;Schultz & Zelezny, 1999).…”
Section: Linking Reproductive Attitudes and Environmentalismmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recent findings, however, point self-enhancing reasons as a basis of proenvironmental behaviors: Actions benefiting the environment might develop based on selfinterest (e.g., being healthy or gaining social status) or without individuals knowing that they are behaving pro-environmentally (Dominicis, Schultz, & Bonaiuto, 2017). Furthermore, some authors raised the need for a further inspection of relationships between egoistic values and a wider range of actions that could be considered more beneficial for individuals with stronger self-enhancement values as related findings seem to be scarce (Bouman, Steg, & Kiers, 2018).…”
Section: Values and Behaviorsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…These results have notable theoretical implications. Firstly, although some authors argue for the importance of egoistic values for pro-environmental actions (Dominicis et al, 2017), and argue for further examination of egoistic values by decomposing the egoistic value scale into sub-dimensions to assess their influence on pro-environmental actions , corresponding literature seems to be scarce. Our results support these suggestions, signifying a need for development of new lines of research within environmental psychology.…”
Section: Theoretical and Practical Implicationsmentioning
confidence: 99%