Strengthening pro-environmental behavior, as well as understanding its drivers, is crucial for the fight against global warming. In this study, we (i) shed light on the behavioral determinants of pro-environmental efforts and (ii) explore the potential of information provision (about others’ efforts) to shape pro-environmental behavior. US citizens (n=782) in our online experiment are given the opportunity to work on a limited number of real-effort transcription tasks. For each task completed, one tree is planted via a specialized charitable organization. In addition to this incentivized measure of pro-environmental effort, we elicit subjects’ (beliefs about others’) willingness to fight global warming, both in general and w.r.t. specific actions. We find that these beliefs are updated, in particular by subjects that underestimate the actual value, when information about others’ actual willingness to fight global warming is provided. Surprisingly, the observed significant upward shift in beliefs does not translate into higher levels of exerted pro-environmental effort. In addition to our main results, we provide correlational evidence that economic preferences, in particular altruism and positive reciprocity, and universalist values are deeply intertwined with acting pro-environmentally.

中文翻译：

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亲环境努力是否受到他人行为信息的影响？


加强亲环境行为以及了解其驱动因素，对于对抗全球变暖至关重要。在这项研究中，我们 （i） 阐明了亲环境努力的行为决定因素，以及 （ii） 探索信息提供（关于他人的努力）以塑造亲环境行为的潜力。在我们的在线实验中，美国公民 （n=782） 有机会从事有限数量的真实努力转录任务。每完成一项任务，就会通过专门的慈善组织种植一棵树。除了这种有利于环境的努力的激励措施外，我们还激发了受试者（对他人的信念）对抗全球变暖的意愿，无论是一般的还是具体的行动。我们发现，当提供有关他人对抗全球变暖的实际意愿的信息时，这些信念会更新，特别是那些低估实际价值的受试者。令人惊讶的是，观察到的信念显着上升并没有转化为更高水平的亲环境努力。除了我们的主要结果外，我们还提供了相关证据，证明经济偏好，特别是利他主义和积极互惠，以及普世主义价值观与亲环境行为密切相关。