Values, Norms, and Intrinsic Motivation to Act Proenvironmentally

Abstract

Environmental problems can be reduced if people more consistently engage in proenvironmental actions. In this article, I discuss factors that motivate or inhibit individuals to act proenvironmentally. Many people are intrinsically motivated to engage in proenvironmental actions, because protecting the environment makes them feel good about themselves. People are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to act proenvironmentally over and again when they strongly endorse biospheric values. However, people may be less likely to act on their biospheric values when these values are not supported by the context, or when competing values are activated by factors in a choice context. Next, I discuss strategies to encourage proenvironmental actions by strengthening biospheric values, or by empowering and motivating people to act on their biospheric values. Moreover, I discuss factors influencing the acceptability of environmental policies that aim to encourage proenvironmental behavior.