Self-construal predicts environmental concern, cooperation, and conservation

The purpose of this study was to determine whether individual differences in self-construal predict differences in environmental concern, resource sharing, and pro-environmental behaviour. University students completed measures of environmental concern, cooperation, and competition in sharing environmental resources, and conservation behaviour. It was found that the independent self-construal uniquely predicted egoistic environmental concern and competitiveness in sharing resources. The interdependent self-construal predicted resource cooperation, and the metapersonal self-construal uniquely predicted biospheric environmental concern, ecological cooperation, and self-reports of environmental conservation behaviour. These results suggest that self-construal plays a key role in predicting important environmental thoughts and behaviours. It is proposed that one's environmental concern steins partly from self-construal. Quite simply, if one considers the self to include all living things, then one is less likely to harm and more likely to protect the environment. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.