Collective guilt mediates the effect of beliefs about global warming on willingness to engage in mitigation behavior

The present research examines whether collective guilt for an ingroup’s collective greenhouse gas emissions mediates the effects of beliefs about the causes and effects of global warming on willingness to engage in mitigation behavior. In Study 1, we manipulate the causes and effects of global warming and then measure collective guilt. Results demonstrate that collective guilt for Americans’ greenhouse gas emissions is stronger when participants believe that global warming is caused by humans and will have minor effects. Study 2 employs the same manipulations and then measures collective guilt and collective anxiety, as well as willingness to conserve energy and pay green taxes. This study replicates the effect from Study 1 and rules out collective anxiety as a plausible alternative mediator. Collective guilt for Americans’ greenhouse emissions was the only reliable mediator of the effect of beliefs about global warming on willingness to engage in mitigation behaviors. The importance of collective guilt as a tool for promoting global warming mitigation is discussed. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Global warming is one of the most pressing social issues of our times. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007), global warming is likely to have negative consequences for natural ecosystems and human societies in the coming decades. The National Academies of Science (2008) suggest that the ‘‘scientific understanding of [global warming] is now sufficiently clear to begin taking steps to prepare for [global warming] and to slow it’’ (p. 2). In psychology there have also been calls for reducing or mitigating global warming. For instance, Oskamp (2007) suggests that the current ‘‘generation’s success in achieving sustainable patterns of living on the Earth will determine whether [it] will retain a livable environment for future generations’’ (p. 121). These concerns are echoed in the American Psychological Association’s (2009) task force report outlining the urgent need for more research on the psychological or human dimensions of global warming (see also Gifford, 2007a). 1. Beliefs about global warming and mitigation behavior Two psychological dimensions relevant to mitigation behavior are beliefs about the causes and effects of global warming (Clayton & Myers, 2009; Gifford, 2007b). In terms of causes, social and political debates about global warming (Dessler & Parson, 2006) revolve around whether natural processes (e.g., solar or volcanic activity) or human activities (e.g., electricity consumption, automobile emissions) are the main causes of global warming (i.e., attributions concerning its source can differ; Hilton, 2007). In terms of effects, debates revolve around whether the effects of global warming will be minor (e.g., slightly warmer days, localized flooding) or major (e.g., disease epidemics, submersion of coastlines). Expectations regarding people’s capacity for managing the future effects of global warming should have consequences for willingness to change present-day behavior (e.g., Lazarus, 1999; Roese & Sherman, 2007). Given the prevalence of cause and effect beliefs in worldwide debates about global warming, addressing their role in eliciting mitigation behavior seems prudent. Research by Malka, Krosnick, and Langer (2009) suggests that beliefs about the causes and effects of global warming relate to proenvironmental behavior. In an American nationally-representative sample, they found that believing global warming is caused by humans and is a severe threat to the world is related to greater proenvironmental behavior. Furthermore, this relationship is more likely to be found among those who trust scientists and/or are q Preparation of this manuscript was facilitated by an award from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. * Corresponding author. Department of Economics, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4. Tel.: þ1 403 220 6101. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.A. Ferguson).