Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0266847 |
| Journal | PLOS ONE |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Apr 2022 |
Abstract
Adolescents are the decision-makers of the future, and as educational research shows, behaviors, habits, and attitudes established at young age strongly shape behavior in adulthood. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors shape young people's climate-relevant behavior. In this study, we examine how information about peer behavior affects adolescents' perception of prevailing social norms and own decision-making. Experimentally, we manipulated whether adolescents received information about other young people's (lack of) support for climate protection, operationalized as a donation to a CO2 offsetting scheme. We find that empirical expectations shifted for all age groups when the information revealed that peers donated nothing or only small amounts. Donation behavior and the normative assessment, however, changed only in the younger age groups. Our study illustrates the caution that must be exercised when others' behavior becomes visible or is deliberatively made salient in order to induce behavioral change, especially among young individuals.
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In: PLOS ONE, Vol. 17, No. 4, e0266847, 27.04.2022.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Social norms and climate-friendly behavior of adolescents
AU - Koessler, Ann Kathrin
AU - Vorlaufer, Tobias
AU - Fiebelkorn, Florian
PY - 2022/4/27
Y1 - 2022/4/27
N2 - Adolescents are the decision-makers of the future, and as educational research shows, behaviors, habits, and attitudes established at young age strongly shape behavior in adulthood. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors shape young people's climate-relevant behavior. In this study, we examine how information about peer behavior affects adolescents' perception of prevailing social norms and own decision-making. Experimentally, we manipulated whether adolescents received information about other young people's (lack of) support for climate protection, operationalized as a donation to a CO2 offsetting scheme. We find that empirical expectations shifted for all age groups when the information revealed that peers donated nothing or only small amounts. Donation behavior and the normative assessment, however, changed only in the younger age groups. Our study illustrates the caution that must be exercised when others' behavior becomes visible or is deliberatively made salient in order to induce behavioral change, especially among young individuals.
AB - Adolescents are the decision-makers of the future, and as educational research shows, behaviors, habits, and attitudes established at young age strongly shape behavior in adulthood. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors shape young people's climate-relevant behavior. In this study, we examine how information about peer behavior affects adolescents' perception of prevailing social norms and own decision-making. Experimentally, we manipulated whether adolescents received information about other young people's (lack of) support for climate protection, operationalized as a donation to a CO2 offsetting scheme. We find that empirical expectations shifted for all age groups when the information revealed that peers donated nothing or only small amounts. Donation behavior and the normative assessment, however, changed only in the younger age groups. Our study illustrates the caution that must be exercised when others' behavior becomes visible or is deliberatively made salient in order to induce behavioral change, especially among young individuals.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128881292&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0266847
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0266847
M3 - Article
C2 - 35476845
AN - SCOPUS:85128881292
VL - 17
JO - PLOS ONE
JF - PLOS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 4
M1 - e0266847
ER -