The Ecological Bad Is Stronger than Good: Emotions toward Harmful Behavior Shape Attitudes and Actions More

Two studies highlighted the crucial role of emotions towards harmful (vs. friendly) behaviors in environmental decision-making. Study 1 (N = 687) explored the link between pro-environmental attitudes, anticipated emotions, and choices in hypothetical scenarios. Study 2, an experience sampling study (N = 233), analyzed 2005 real-life behaviors to examine the relationship between experienced emotions and environmental attitudes. Results indicated that, depending on individuals' pro-environmental attitudes, participants were especially emotionally responsive to environmentally harmful behaviors (some positively, others negatively). Importantly, the anticipated emotions regarding harmful actions significantly influenced behavioral decisions more than those related to pro-environmental actions, mediating the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and eventual behavioral decisions. The findings support the 'bad is stronger than good' principle, regardless of the emotional valence.