Abstract
Feeling guilty about the occurrence of environmental problems is not uncommon; however, not everyone experiences it. Why are there such individual differences? Considering that guilt is a predominantly interpersonal phenomenon, as emotion research has demonstrated, how is it possible that some individuals feel guilty for the degradation of the non-human environment, and some others do not? The present investigation tests an integrated solution to these two questions based on the concept of anthropomorphism. In three studies, with an individual difference approach, it was observed that anthropomorphism of nature predicted the experience of environmental guilt, and this feeling in turn was associated with engagement in pro-environmental behavior. That is, it appears that individuals who view nature in anthropomorphic terms are more likely to feel guilty for environmental degradation, and they take more steps toward environmental action. This observation not only improves existing understanding of environmental guilt, but also adds evidence to the theoretical possibility of describing and understanding the human–nature relationship with reference to psychological knowledge regarding interpersonal relationships.
Highlights
Feeling guilty for what is going wrong in the environment is not an uncommon experience
These patterns were mostly not observed for IDAQ-devices or IDAQ-animals, suggesting that the associations with environmental guilt and pro-environmental behavior were specific to anthropomorphism of the non-human and inanimate aspects of the natural world
Guilt was significantly associated with pro-environmental behavior; the same was true for the other emotions, though apparently to a weaker extent
Summary
Feeling guilty for what is going wrong in the environment is not an uncommon experience. In Greendex, a study that explored consumer behavior in 18 countries [1], about one third of the 18,000 respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I feel guilty about the impact I have on the environment”. Advice on how to overcome environmental guilt is abundant on the Internet and in the book market [3]. Social innovations that allow consumers to atone for their guilt are emerging [4]. Annina Rüst, a Swiss-born artist-inventor, even designed a leg band that would drive stainless-steel thorns into the user’s leg when he/she is using too much electricity; Rüst referred to this self-mortification device as a “therapy for environmental guilt” [5]
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