Is Climate Change a Moral Issue? Effects of Egoism and Altruism on Pro-Environmental Behavior

Abstract

Do value orientations of egoism and altruism affect pro-environmental behaviour? The answer is "yes", according to the results obtained. Corresponding to the self-benefit goal hypothesis, egoistic individuals (rated "high" on egoism) were shown to perceive having less control; that is, they believed that it was too difficult as well as pointless to do much about environmental issues. They were also less willing to pay higher taxes and prices as well as cut their standard of living for environmental protection. In contrast, and along the lines of empathy-altruism hypothesis, altruistic individuals (rated "high" on altruism) were shown to perceive having more control and showed a greater willingness to make sacrifices. Egoistic compared to altruistic individuals were also shown to be less prepared not to drive their car for environmental reasons. This suggests that a deontic proposition of "we should behave pro-environmentally" is recognized as a moral issue by the altruistic individuals, but not by the egoistic ones. Accordingly, when promoting sustainable policy and "ethical" decision making, it is important to take into account imperatives of egoism and altruism involved in climate-change-related decision making.

Guilt as a Motivator for Moral Judgment: An Autobiographical Memory Study

“…In other words, the north European Protestant culture (Swedish participants) seems to promote higher feelings of guilt and by that less moral intention of willing to do wrong in economic compared to social moral situations; indicating the latter type of situations as less socially regulated and the role of guilt, as negative emotion, to regulate behavior (Frijda et al, 1989; Scherer and Wallbott, 1994). Generally, this is also in line with some previous research indicating social (Kortenkamp and Moore, 2006; Greenwood, 2011; Knez, 2013, 2016b) and economic/resource (Hardin, 1968; Agerström and Björklund, 2009) dimensions of moral dilemmas; situational aspects that may activate different facets of the moral self (Aquino et al, 2009). …”

“…two and four, see below) depicting economic situations. Moral dilemmas represented a disagreement between altruistic and egoistic motives (Agerström and Björklund, 2009; Knez, 2016b) in that the participants faced a conflict between unselfish motives in terms of greater well-being or gain for one or several other persons (at the cost of a smaller personal discomfort or financial lost) and selfish (pure hedonic) motives in terms of a smaller personal comfort, convenience, or gain (at the cost of a greater utility, well-being or pro-environmental values for one or several other persons). Thus, dilemmas depicted a clash between universal and non-universal norms/principles/values (Hare, 1981; Hauser, 2006).…”

“…The two types of situations were included because previous research has indicated social (Kortenkamp and Moore, 2006; Greenwood, 2011; Knez, 2013, 2016b) and economic/resource (Hardin, 1968; Agerström and Björklund, 2009) dimensions of moral dilemmas; in the words of Aquino et al (2009, p. 124): “…situational factors may activate a person’s moral identity or they may activate alternative facets of identity, thereby increasing or decreasing the current accessibility of the moral self-schema within the working self-concept.” Some previous research has also indicated that morality and self-conscious emotions may differ across cultures (Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Wang, 2008; Wong, 2009). For example, Vauclair et al (2014) investigating four-country/two-culture samples reported some type of relativism in morality dimensions across cultures.…”

Analyzing the Determinants of Individual Action on Climate Change by Specifying the Roles of Six Values in South Korea

“…Knez [65] believed that value orientations of egoism or altruism affect pro-environmental behavior because the belief that "we should behave pro-environmentally" is regarded as a moral issue by altruistic individuals but not by egoistic individuals. According to Schwartz's [66,67] norm activation theory, subjective altruistic humanitarian beliefs are closely connected with environmentally friendly behavior.…”

Relationships between Personal and Collective Place Identity and Well-Being in Mountain Communities

“…Definitions of landscape include not only objective natural characteristics ( Turner, 1989 ), but also subjective human views, perceptions, identifications and memories ( Knez, 2006 ; Knez and Thorsson, 2008 ; Lewicka, 2008 ; Stobbelaar and Pedroli, 2011 ). We evolve personal and collective ties toward landscapes, meaning that sites encompass not only physical and spatial parameters but also psychological, social, historical, religious, moral, health and cultural connotations ( Graumann, 2002 ; Knez, 2005 , 2013 , 2016a ; Knez et al, 2009 ; Knez et al, 2013 ; Lachowycz and Jones, 2013 ; Gunnarsson et al, 2016 ; Ode Sang et al, 2016 ). Culture is to society what memory is to individuals ( Triandis, 1994 ), involving traditions and practices regarding how we perceive and comprehend physical surroundings and ourselves ( Canter, 1997 ; Knez and Thorsson, 2006 ).…”