To me, there are only two good reasons to “Go Green”. To save the Earth from ourselves… and to save some money. While the former seems rather altruistic and selfless, the latter is all about the bottom line. As it turns out, many “green” people may not be in it for all the right reasons.
According to a new study published in the Psychological Science Journal, green people tend to cheat and steal more than their conventional comrades because they see themselves as having the moral high ground. What gives?
The report is kind of convoluted, and as a study it has to be taken with a grain of salt… especially since it involves a bunch of college students as test subjects. But if you’re a fan of South Park, you’ve no doubt seen the hybrid episode where “smug” clouds destroy San Francisco. And many people associate hybrid drivers, especially the Prius, with a sort of uppity, modern, holier-than-thou hippie.
The test exposed students to one of two stores; one carrying mostly conventional products, the other carrying mostly green products, before testing began. Consumers were asked to make purchases from one store or the other, and then share the left-over money with a peer (that did not actually exist). On average, green consumers shared just $1.76, while conventional shoppers shared $2.18 with their peers. One test asked students to identify which side of a computer screen had more dots, with the left side paying half a cent, and the right side paying $.05 cents. 40% of the time the right side had more dots. Conventional consumers choose the right side side 42.5% of the time, while green consumers choose it over 50% of the time, despite being told that accuracy was of the utmost importance. This way they rigged the game to earn themselves more money.
So what does this study say about “green” people? Something, and nothing. One could make the argument that green consumers see themselves as have the moral high ground, and think of themselves as “better” than other people… so that makes it OK to cheat. On the other hand, this study used a bunch of college students. As I’m not all that far removed from college myself, I can honestly say that, given the chance to put a few extra bucks in my wallet, or given an unfair chance for a better score on a test… I’d probably take it. It is college, after all, and the two things I always seemed to need was more money and better grades.
Still though, there is a certain level of smug among a lot of green people… and I think that is what turns off so many people from making the change. Yes, you might be saving the world, but it doesn’t make you better than anyone else. I think the best way to evoke change is to keep harping on how much money you can save by going green. According to this study, a lot of green consumers are just in it for those dolla’ bills anyway, so why not make that the rallying cry of eco-consumers across the world?
Source: The Detroit Bureau | Psychological Science Journal | Image: South Park
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About Christopher DeMorro
I think there is also more of a tendency in “green” people to feel “it’s okay to cheat rich people, after all, they must have cheated someone to get rich”.
I think there is also more of a tendency in “green” people to feel “it’s okay to cheat rich people, after all, they must have cheated someone to get rich”.
I feel I’m afloat in a sea of stupidity but can’t shake the feeling that maybe I’m just too stupid to see my own stupidity.
They may have been inadvertently testing IQ and I don’t know which group would have come out ahead.
There is a certain level of smug among all people. People are blind to their own smugness and that explains why they think only other people are smug, or seek status for that matter. Prius drivers don’t feel smug but certainly think Hummer drivers (or Fusion drivers) are smug and round and round it goes.
Analysis of things that don’t exist can be entertaining but rarely productive. Exactly how many angels will fit on the head of a pin?
As social primates, once our bellies are full we spend most of our energies seeking a higher rung on the status hierarchy or at to least maintain the one we have achieved. We also spend a lot of time trying to tear down other status symbols to replace them with our own (Fusion vs Prius).
As long as energy efficiency can be maintained as a status symbol instead of being just another passing fad, it’s all good.
I feel I’m afloat in a sea of stupidity but can’t shake the feeling that maybe I’m just too stupid to see my own stupidity.
They may have been inadvertently testing IQ and I don’t know which group would have come out ahead.
There is a certain level of smug among all people. People are blind to their own smugness and that explains why they think only other people are smug, or seek status for that matter. Prius drivers don’t feel smug but certainly think Hummer drivers (or Fusion drivers) are smug and round and round it goes.
Analysis of things that don’t exist can be entertaining but rarely productive. Exactly how many angels will fit on the head of a pin?
As social primates, once our bellies are full we spend most of our energies seeking a higher rung on the status hierarchy or at to least maintain the one we have achieved. We also spend a lot of time trying to tear down other status symbols to replace them with our own (Fusion vs Prius).
As long as energy efficiency can be maintained as a status symbol instead of being just another passing fad, it’s all good.
The simple answer is sophistry. Look it up. Several generations in this country have come up believing they discovered everything, that they were the first to realize the true nature of everything.
Where once “sophisticates” and “sharp operators” were unpleasant and unscrupulous, those same terms have become flattering. It doesn’t take a degree in history to look back two or three generations and see the degradation.
When you are a law unto yourself, when you are the alpha and omega, rules do not apply, morals and ethics are outdated symbols of the global evil “old white men”. Moreover, you can prove your superiority by taking unto yourself whatever you can get, your ‘cleverness’ proving the idiocy of the rest of mankind in comparison.
The simple answer is sophistry. Look it up. Several generations in this country have come up believing they discovered everything, that they were the first to realize the true nature of everything.
Where once “sophisticates” and “sharp operators” were unpleasant and unscrupulous, those same terms have become flattering. It doesn’t take a degree in history to look back two or three generations and see the degradation.
When you are a law unto yourself, when you are the alpha and omega, rules do not apply, morals and ethics are outdated symbols of the global evil “old white men”. Moreover, you can prove your superiority by taking unto yourself whatever you can get, your ‘cleverness’ proving the idiocy of the rest of mankind in comparison.
I don’t know. Those results make no sense to me…
It’s impossible to save the Planet by doing bad things…
“Yes, you might be saving the world, but it doesn’t make you better than anyone else.”
People are part of this World. What has puts us in this mess was thinking that the world belongs to us, and just us…That’s why, to me, someone that steals from other people, is not trying to save the world.
It doesn’t make a difference if you steal from another person or if steal from the Planet…Stealing is stealing and stealing is wrong.
I don’t know. Those results make no sense to me…
It’s impossible to save the Planet by doing bad things…
“Yes, you might be saving the world, but it doesn’t make you better than anyone else.”
People are part of this World. What has puts us in this mess was thinking that the world belongs to us, and just us…That’s why, to me, someone that steals from other people, is not trying to save the world.
It doesn’t make a difference if you steal from another person or if steal from the Planet…Stealing is stealing and stealing is wrong.
The survey is definitely skewed. I think the error was restricting the subjects to college students. And, of course, which college surveyed would be important. The “smugness” factor could be up’d if the survey canvassed strictly Ivy League institutions versus, say, a technical school.
All in all, an interesting survey, but only worth a passing glance.
The survey is definitely skewed. I think the error was restricting the subjects to college students. And, of course, which college surveyed would be important. The “smugness” factor could be up’d if the survey canvassed strictly Ivy League institutions versus, say, a technical school.
All in all, an interesting survey, but only worth a passing glance.