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      The Role of Compensatory Beliefs in Rationalizing Environmentally Detrimental Behaviors

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          Abstract

          Compensatory green beliefs (CGBs) reflect the idea that a pro-environmental behavior (e.g., recycling) can off-set the negative effects of an environmentally detrimental behavior (e.g., driving). It is thought that CGBs might help explain why people act in ways that appear to contradict their pro-environmental intentions, and inconsistently engage in pro-environmental behaviors. The present study sought to investigate the nature and use of CGBs. A series of interviews suggested that participants endorsed CGBs to (a) reduce feelings of guilt with respect to (the assumed or actual) negative environmental impact of their actions and (b) defend their green credentials in social situations. Participants also justified detrimental behaviors on the basis of higher loyalties (e.g., family’s needs), or the perceived difficulty of performing more pro-environmental actions. In addition to shedding light on how, when, and why people might hold and use CGBs, the research also provides new insight into how CGBs should be assessed.

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          Most cited references37

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          Green identity, green living? The role of pro-environmental self-identity in determining consistency across diverse pro-environmental behaviours

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            ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDE AND ECOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR

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              Defining the rebound effect

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Environ Behav
                Environ Behav
                EAB
                speab
                Environment and Behavior
                SAGE Publications (Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA )
                0013-9165
                1552-390X
                03 May 2017
                May 2018
                : 50
                : 4
                : 401-425
                Affiliations
                [1 ]University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
                [2 ]The University of Sheffield, UK
                [3 ]Sheffield Hallam University, UK
                Author notes
                [*]Aimie L. B. Hope, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, AD Building, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK. Email: aimie.hope@ 123456googlemail.com
                Article
                10.1177_0013916517706730
                10.1177/0013916517706730
                5888765
                29657331
                08770b95-95fa-4a53-9f0e-246b8181a017
                © The Author(s) 2017

                This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ( http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page ( https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

                History
                Funding
                Funded by: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, FundRef https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000266;
                Award ID: EP/G037477/1
                Categories
                Articles

                psychology,academic field,sustainability,behavior change,content areas,energy,pro-environmental behavior,qualitative research,research methods

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