I Am Better Than Others: Waste Management Policies and Self-Enhancement Bias

Yihan Zhao, Rong Chen, Mitsuyasu Yabe, Buxin Han and Pingping Liu
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Yihan Zhao: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Beijing 100101, China
Rong Chen: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Beijing 100101, China
Mitsuyasu Yabe: Laboratory of Environmental Economics, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Buxin Han: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Beijing 100101, China
Pingping Liu: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: Waste source separation has been a social dilemma globally with a low participation rate. This research attempted to solve this dilemma by exploring the effect of mandatory (versus voluntary) policies on waste separation from the perspective of the self-versus based on deterrence theory and self-enhancement motivation. Hypothetical scenarios were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of mandatory policies and self-enhancement bias for residents ( n = 589) and adolescents ( n = 121). Study 2 was performed to replicate the findings of Study 1 with a no-implementation policy condition, and Study 3 extended the findings to adolescents. We found robust self-enhancement bias, where participants perceived themselves to be better than others in both willingness to perform and attitudes toward waste separation behavior. Specifically, participants tended to perceive themselves to perform waste separation well when policy compliance was voluntary, but they tended to perceive others to perform well when policy compliance was mandatory with supervision. These findings highlight the impact of mandatory policy with supervision and self-enhancement bias in waste management. The present studies provide substantial evidence and implications for the necessity of supervision in mandatory policy implementation.

Keywords: self-enhancement bias; mandatory policy; supervision; waste separation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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