Biased perception of the environmental impact of everyday behaviors

Bibliographic Data

ID21355322
AuthorsLaura Pasca (0000-0002-4677-8649, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, corresponding author), Lucía Poggio (0000-0002-7413-5560, Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
Year2023
Volume163
Issue4
Pages515-521
Publication date2023-07-04
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4545 • E-ISSN: 1940-1183
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00224545.2021.2000354
PMID34766547
OpenAlexW3214094992
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited24

Despite our concern about climate change, certain psychological barriers hinder the adoption of a pro-environmental lifestyle. In the present study (n = 186), we analyzed the participants' estimates of the environmental impact of their lifestyles, compared to their moral standards and the perceived normative impact. Results show that individuals recognize their lifestyle is more unsustainable than what is generally acceptable, yet they consider the lifestyle of others to be even more harmful. Furthermore, we studied the role of compensatory green beliefs on the biases in the estimated environmental impacts. The results showed that individuals tend to consider that pro-environmental behaviors have a neutral environmental impact. Thus, our research suggests the existence of a bias in individuals' perception of environmental impacts

Climate change · Environmental impact assessment · Normative · Perception · Political science · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Ecology · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Psychology · Social Psychology

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