The politics of impact: How political ideology shapes perceptions of the environmental impact of individual actions

Abstract

Although consumers who engage in the same sustainable behaviors objectively have the same environmental impact, this research finds that people's perceptions of that impact are subjective and systematically shaped by political ideology. Seven studies demonstrate that conservatives tend to perceive their sustainable actions to have less of a positive impact on the environment than liberals do, which predicts conservatives' lower engagement in sustainable behaviors. This effect occurs not just because of their own climate change beliefs, but also because of the lower observed prevalence of sustainable behaviors in their in-group. Consistent with this mechanism, when (a) the behavior is presented in a domain where it is seen as more prevalent among conservatives' ingroup members (i.e., health vs. sustainability), (b) the message emphasizes the prevalence of sustainable actions within the ingroup, or (c) impact is explicitly communicated, conservatives' perceptions of impact and their willingness to engage in sustainable behaviors increase. This work contributes to the literature on political ideology, highlighting effective ways to promote sustainable behavior across the political spectrum.