Virtue and Sustainable Behavior

Abstract

A psychological perspective on virtue and sustainability stresses the individual’s perceptions, values, and motivations. Beginning with an examination of the way in which sustainability links environmental and social well-being, this chapter reviews research showing that most people do perceive sustainability to be virtuous, and therefore that sustainable behavior can be used as a way to demonstrate one’s own virtuous character. It describes some of the psychological factors that contribute to or impede that perception, including values, identity, social norms, and competing self-interest. The implications of taking an ethical perspective on motivating behavior are also considered, and the possibility that experiences in nature may even promote more virtuous behavior is explored. The chapter closes with a cautionary note about the limits of virtue in promoting behavior.