The Shotgun Blog
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Thursday, April 01, 2010
Morality and environmentalism
The
National Post is reporting a study from the University of Toronto
that shows that people who purchase ‘green products’ are more likely to
behave unethically, even stealing, if given the opportunity:
"While mere exposure can activate
concepts related to social responsibility and ethical conduct and induce
corresponding behaviours, purchasing green products may produce the
counterintuitive effect of licensing asocial and unethical behaviours by
establishing moral credentials," the researchers write.
In
other words, the moral halo people feel after purchasing green products
might lead them to develop a holier-than-thou attitude, whether
conscious or not, that could ultimately manifest in immoral acts.
This reminds me of people that exercise but eat junk food. They feel
like they are being healthy and are able to eat junk because they
worked out for 30 minutes a couple of times a week. They are healthy in
one aspect so they are justified being unhealthy in another. Similarly a
person that feels like they are taking care of their moral character
would be less likely to feel obligated to be moral in other aspects of
their lives. This doesn’t seem to be refuted by this study’s opponents:
Green
living expert Amy Todisco debates the study's findings, saying they seem
like just another attack on environmentalism.
"The
same argument could be made about Catholics after they've gone to
confession or about missionaries doing good deeds - does that somehow
licence them to do less altruistic things after they've done something
good?" Ms. Todisco said. "I don't think that makes any sense."
Ms. Todisco is missing the point. People do not do good things for
the benefit of others; they do good things, at least in part, to feel
good about themselves. A person will then only be as good as they need
to be to feel good about them self. The people that bought the green
product felt good about themselves so they did not feel a need to be
honest and good in other ways.
The problem is with the whole scheme of the environmentalist
movement. They have turned ‘being green’ into the ultimate moral act of
altruism. I am a good person because I am driving a car that has low
emissions. Now that I consider myself a good person I do not need to do
other good things, or at least I have to do less good things than I
otherwise would have.
I’m not sure how conclusive this study should be considered. But it
does merit further research and should not be dismissed as ‘another
attack on environmentalism.’ It is more a study of human nature and what
motivates individuals. Once we have a better grasp of how self interest
works, we can come up with better schemes to protect the environment;
we can invent schemes that will work with human nature instead of
against it.
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on April 1, 2010 | Permalink
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