Reading a short story changes children’s sustainable behavior in a resource dilemma

Abstract

Fostering sustainable behavior in children and adolescents should be a central aim of today’s education. Even though the interplay of factors affecting sustainable behavior is complex, simple interventions can be effective too. In the current study, 10-year-olds (N = 132) were read a short story about two foresters who collectively used a forest to gain timber, facing a resource dilemma that involved striving for maximizing their individual profit while sustaining the forest. In the story, the foresters solved the dilemma in favor of the resource, thereby serving as positive role models. Children in the control condition were read a short informative story on urban gardening that did not include a dilemma or any moral cues. Before and after the intervention, children played a fishing conflict game to assess their sustainable behavior. Children who were presented with the positive role models played the game after the intervention more sustainably than before the intervention. Children in the control condition, in contrast, played it even less sustainably after the intervention. The results suggest that a short intervention might affect children’s sustainable behavior.