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Pro-environmental actions, climate change, and defensiveness: do self-affirmations make a difference to people's motives and beliefs about making a difference?
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 18:19 authored by Paul Sparks, Donna JessopDonna Jessop, James Chapman, Katherine HolmesSocial concerns with the imperative of environmentally sustainable life-styles sit rather awkwardly with ideas about the widespread denial of global environmental problems. Given the very obvious threat and denial dimensions to these issues, we conducted two studies assessing the impact of self-affirmation manipulations on people's beliefs and motives regarding pro-environmental actions. In Study 1, participants (N =125) completed a self-affirmation task and read information on the threat of climate change. Results showed that the self-affirmation manipulation resulted in lower levels of denial and greater perceptions of personal involvement in relation to climate change. In Study 2, participants (N =90) completed a self-affirmation task and read some information on recycling. Findings showed a beneficial effect of a self-affirmation manipulation on intentions to increase recycling behaviour (among lower recyclers). The results are discussed in relation to the potential benefits of self-affirmation manipulations for promoting pro-environmental actions
History
Publication status
- Published
Journal
British Journal of Social PsychologyISSN
0144-6665Publisher
British Psychological SocietyExternal DOI
Issue
3Volume
49Page range
553-568Department affiliated with
- Psychology Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-02-06Usage metrics
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