物欲之蔽:物质主义对亲环境态度及行为的影响

The Curtain of Material Desires:Influence of Materialism on Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors

纵观现有研究,物质主义较稳定地负向预测个体的亲环境态度、公领域亲环境行为以及私领域亲环境行为中的资源回收和节约行为。至于私领域亲环境行为中的绿色消费,研究结果在发达国家和发展中国家间存在不一致。基于环状价值观模型和价值-信念-规范理论,物质主义可以同时影响亲环境态度及行为,也能通过亲环境态度影响行为。未来研究应当增加对物质主义与亲环境态度、行为间因果关系、内在机制的探讨,以及提升现有研究结果的应用价值。

With the development of economy and the increase of population, the ecological environment has been deteriorated seriously and environmental problems have become increasingly prominent nowadays. The ecological crisis is a profound internal crisis of values representing what people believe is important in life. If individuals have a higher pro-environmental value, they will show more pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors. But nowadays, pro-environmental value is not in the dominant position in the society, while another opposite value — materialism is more popular, especially in China. By combing the existing research results at home and abroad, this article summarizes and analyzes the relationship between materialism and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, and also explains the possible mechanisms. Materialism can predict pro-environmental attitudes negatively, including cognitive components, such as the cognition of environmental problem severity and the causes, the relationship between human and nature, the priority between environmental protection and economic development, and also including behavioral intentions, such as the responsibility and the willingness of protecting the environment. Materialism can negatively predict public sphere pro-environmental behaviors as well as recycling and conservation that can be classified in private sphere pro-environmental behaviors. According to Schwartz＇s value model, pro-environmental behaviors are inconsistent with the connotation of materialism, that is to say, materialism can directly reduce pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. On the other hand, according to the value-belief-norm theory, materialism can reduce proenvironmental attitudes and further affect the pro-environmental behaviors, that is to say, pro-environmental attitudes play a mediating role between materialism and pro-environmental behaviors. As for green consumption, another kind of private sphere pro-environmental behaviors, its relation with materialism is controversial among existing results. Some studies find out that there are cultural differences. Specifically speaking, in the developed countries, materialism negatively predicts green consumption, but in the developing countries, materialism positively predicts green consumption because materialists are more sensitive to social norms so that they would show higher levels of green consumption behaviors that are in line with social norms. At the same time, green consumption owns conspicuous features that could cater to needs of materialists in the developing countries. So materialists would be more likely to buy green products for potential profit to improve their image and status. Future researchers should expand the empirical research, such as enhancing casual studies between materialism and pro-environmental behaviors. The research methods in existing studies are single and most are questionnaire results which are cross-sectional, correlation between variables. Therefore, further research should seek to expand the research paradigm and method to clarify the relationship between materialism and pro environmental attitudes and behaviors effectively. And also it is important to increase the exploration of internal possible mechanisms. Future research can be explored from the perspectives of cognition such as pro-environment self-efficacy and self-control, and emotions such as place attachment. In addition, researchers should also apply theories and empirical results to the real life and put forward feasible suggestions to improve the actual pro-environmental behaviors.