Save the Planet for Humans' Sake: A Study on Social and Environmental Value Orientations

17 Pages Posted: 19 Jun 2014 Last revised: 30 Mar 2015

See all articles by Kurt A. Ackermann

Kurt A. Ackermann

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Eva Fleiß

Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research

Jürgen Fleiß

University of Graz

Ryan O. Murphy

University of Zurich - Department of Economics

Alfred Posch

Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research

Date Written: March 30, 2015

Abstract

Evidence for the relationship between social and environmental concerns is mixed. However, these constructs have commonly been measured by diverse methods that do not readily facilitate a direct comparison of results. We employ a consistent incentivized method to assess subjects’ social value orientations (SVO) and also their motivations for the environment and humanitarian aid. Subjects made resource allocation choices with real consequences while the experimental design ensured comparability of subjects’ preferences (i.e., their willingness to make tradeoffs for different environmental and social causes). We found that social and environmental value orientations are intertwined, and the results clearly show that people are generally willing to pay more for the benefit of people in need, compared to abstract environmental causes. We conclude that interventions to nudge people towards environmentally-friendly behavior may have a greater impact if the human suffering as resulting from global warming is made salient.

Keywords: Social Value Orientation (SVO), Environmental attitudes, Environmental behavior, Individual differences, Charitable giving, Cooperation

Suggested Citation

Ackermann, Kurt Alexander and Fleiß, Eva and Fleiß, Jürgen and Murphy, Ryan O. and Posch, Alfred, Save the Planet for Humans' Sake: A Study on Social and Environmental Value Orientations (March 30, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2455990 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2455990

Kurt Alexander Ackermann (Contact Author)

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

Clausiusstrasse 50
Zürich, 8092
Switzerland
++41 632 91 85 (Phone)

Eva Fleiß

Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research ( email )

Merangasse 18/1
Graz, 8010
Austria

Jürgen Fleiß

University of Graz ( email )

Universitaetsstrasse 15 / FE
A-8010 Graz, 8010
Austria

Ryan O. Murphy

University of Zurich - Department of Economics ( email )

Zürich
Switzerland

Alfred Posch

Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research ( email )

Merangasse 18/1
Graz, 8010

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