Seeing past the tip of your own nose? How outward and self-centred orientations could contribute to closing the green gap despite helplessness
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | BMC Psychology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-023-01128-z |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01128-z |
| Keywords | Environmental concern; Pro-environmenal behaviour; Green gap; Collectivism-individualism; Future orientation; Prosocial tendencies; Helplessness |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Background The present study explored moderators of the relation between environmental concerns and pro-envi- ronmental behaviour that could help close the green gap. Methods A sample of 500 individuals (250 women) participated in the study. Apart from socio-demographic char- acteristics, participants answered questions about their environmental concerns and pro-environmental behaviour, collectivism and individualism, time orientation and emotional responses to climate change. Results Our results corroborate the view that collectivism, future orientation and prosocial tendencies may form a single component of outward orientation, while individualism and immediate orientation form self-centred ori- entation. Generally, outwardly oriented individuals and those less self-centred reported more pro-environmental behaviour. However, strongly self-centred individuals, even when reporting elevated helplessness, showed increased involvement in pro-environmental behaviour once their concerns were high. Conclusions The study contributes to the literature by pointing out that both outward and self-centred orientations have the potential to insulate individuals against the negative effect helplessness may have on pro-environmental behaviour. This could inform strategies that would both prompt individuals already concerned to act and arouse more concern among those who are not yet preoccupied with climate change. |