Limited and Mixed Evidence for System-Sanctioned Change to Protect the Environment: A Replication Study

Feygina and colleagues (2010, Study 3) reported that people who prefer the status quo can be encouraged towards pro-environmental responses when environmental protection is framed as protecting the current way of life. We report a preregistered close replication and extension of this work (N = 567). When all participants are made to feel dependent on the country they live in, we did not find evidence that the association between system justification and environmental intentions depended on whether participants read a system-preservation or control message, but the likelihood of signing petitions did. Among participants assigned to a second control condition, who were not exposed to any message, there was a negative association between system justification and pro-environmental behaviour intentions, raising the possibility that both original study conditions attenuated this association. Our findings highlight both the importance of replication and the inclusion of a true control condition, and they raise the possibility that leveraging an audience's existing values may not always mobilise pro-environmental actions. In the case of ideological opposition to the status quo, a system dependence message could depress otherwise high pro-environmental responses.