Thou shalt not sell nature: How taboo trade-offs can make us act pro-environmentally, to clear our conscience

Britt Stikvoort, Therese Lindahl and Tim M. Daw

Ecological Economics, 2016, vol. 129, issue C, 252-259

Abstract: Many nature/natural areas are threatened by economic development and urban expansion. Oftentimes nature is not considered part of the cost/benefit analyses preceding such economic development, and most people find it offensive to price-tag nature. To pit (sacred) nature-values against other monetized values (these are so-called taboo trade-offs) is seen as morally offensive. Non-nature related taboo trade-offs (e.g. between life-saving and money-saving) were found elsewhere to induce moral cleansing — attempts to reaffirm one's own moral position by performing overly moral ‘cleansing’ behaviour. This study investigated whether trade-offs between nature as sacred value and money as secular induces such moral cleansing in shape of pro-environmental behaviour (PEB).

Keywords: Trade-off; Moral cleansing; Pro-environmental behavior; Sacred value; Decision making; Nature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:129:y:2016:i:c:p:252-259

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.05.012

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