Personal relative deprivation and pro-environmental intentions

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Environmental Studies
• Sociology

Background:

• Personal relative deprivation (PRD) is the belief of being worse off than similar others.
• PRD is associated with reduced delayed gratification, lower prosociality, and increased materialism.
• Understanding factors influencing pro-environmental intentions (ENV) is crucial for environmental protection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential link between PRD and ENV.
• To examine if PRD influences individuals' willingness to engage in pro-environmental behaviors.
• To explore the relationship between PRD, subjective social status, and demographic variables in predicting ENV.

Main Methods:

• Three studies were conducted with US and UK samples.
• Participants self-reported PRD, ENV, subjective social status, income, education, age, and gender/sex.
• Multiple regression analyses were used to assess the unique effect of PRD on ENV.

Main Results:

• All three studies found a negative correlation between PRD and ENV.
• The unique effect of PRD on ENV was small and not statistically significant in two studies.
• No other variable consistently emerged as a unique predictor of ENV across all studies.

Conclusions:

• PRD may be associated with reduced pro-environmental intentions.
• The causal relationship between PRD and ENV requires further investigation.
• The role of demographic and social status variables in this association needs more research.