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Pro-environmental behavior: rational choice meets moral motivation.
Rama Mohana R Turaga1, Richard B Howarth, Mark E Borsuk
1Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|February 12, 2010
Summary
Understanding pro-environmental behavior is key for sustainability. This review compares moral and rational choice models, finding convergence in explaining actions like recycling and green purchasing, informing ecological economics.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Economics
- Ecological Economics
Background:
- Individual behaviors for shared environmental benefits are central to social science.
- Divergent behavioral models offer different policy recommendations.
- Existing research highlights the interplay between personal norms and external factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and compare social psychology and economics literature on pro-environmental behavior.
- To explore the convergence between moral and rational choice models.
- To examine implications for ecological economics theory and practice.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and comparative analysis of social psychology and economics research.
- Examination of moral theories and rational choice models (e.g., theory of planned behavior, voluntary provision of public goods).
- Analysis of factors influencing behaviors like recycling and green product demand.
Main Results:
- Social psychology's moral theories emphasize personal norms, moderated by external costs and incentives.
- Rational choice models increasingly incorporate personal norms to explain environmental behaviors.
- Convergence is observed between disciplines in understanding norm-behavior relationships.
Conclusions:
- Integrating moral and rational choice perspectives offers a more comprehensive understanding of pro-environmental behavior.
- Findings inform policy development in ecological economics by highlighting the role of norms and incentives.
- Further research can bridge disciplinary gaps for enhanced environmental policy.
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