Be a Rascal Among Rascal? The Vicarious Moral Self-Regulation Effect in College Students’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Figures & data

Figure 1 The sequence of events in the carbon emissions for monetary rewards task.

Figure 2 Experimental procedures of Study 1.

Table 1 Results of Priming Checks, Willingness, and PEB in Study 1 (M ± SD)

		Strong Green Certificate Group (n=30)	Control Group (n=30)	Weak Green Certificate Group (n=30)
Priming checks	Environmental property	93.33% ± 5.25%	0% ± 0%	90.00% ± 6.16%
	Environmental ratings	3.05 ± 0.81	/	5.04 ± 0.76
Pro-environmental willingness		5.14 ± 1.61	4.95 ± 1.81	4.81 ± 0.68
Carbon neutral behavior	Low gains-low emissions	0.66 ± 0.30	0.71 ± 0.34	0.55 ± 0.35
	Low gains-high emissions	0.93 ± 0.16	0.90 ± 0.19	0.91 ± 0.26
	High gains-low emissions	0.20 ± 0.31	0.33 ± 0.41	0.19 ± 0.32
	High gains-high emissions	0.49 ± 0.38	0.80 ± 0.29	0.43 ± 0.39

Figure 3 Proportions of carbon emission and green purchasing choices in Study 1–4. (A) Is the carbon emission in Study 1; (B) Is the carbon emission in Study 2; (C) Is the green purchasing in Study 3; (C and D) Are the carbon emission and green purchasing in Study 4.

Notes: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

Table 2 Results of Priming Checks, Willingness, and PEB in Study 2 (M ± SD)

		Environmentally Friendly Group (n=40)	Control Group (n=40)	Environmental Unfriendly Group (n=40)
Priming checks	Environmental property	100% ± 0%	0% ± 0%	100% ± 0%
	Environmental ratings	4.52 ± 0.78	/	1.55 ± 0.62
Pro-environmental willingness		4.94 ± 0.98	5.07 ± 0.95	4.80 ± 1.07
Carbon neutral behavior	Low gains-low emissions	0.66 ± 0.30	0.74 ± 0.32	0.57 ± 0.34
	Low gains-high emissions	0.75 ± 0.37	0.82 ± 0.29	0.76 ± 0.40
	High gains-low emissions	0.37 ± 0.41	0.49 ± 0.45	0.39 ± 0.45
	High gains-high emissions	0.56 ± 0.39	0.81 ± 0.29	0.49 ± 0.40

Figure 4 The sequence of events in the green purchasing task of Study 3.

Table 3 Results of Priming Checks, Willingness, and PEB in Study 3 (M ± SD)

		Environmentally Friendly Group (n=31)	Control Group (n=31)	Environmental Unfriendly Group (n=31)
Priming checks	Environmental property	100% ± 0%	0% ± 0%	100% ± 0%
	Environmental ratings	4.65±2.11	/	1.54±1.42
Pro-environmental willingness		5.16 ±1.00	5.23±0.91	4.80±0.94
Green purchasing behavior	Up 25%	0.76± 0.29	0.91± 0.11	0.71 ± 0.25
	Up 50%	0.69 ± 0.23	0.81 ± 0.20	0.69 ± 0.26
	Up 75%	0.58 ± 0.24	0.70 ± 0.24	0.58 ± 0.28
	Up 100%	0.47 ± 0.25	0.57 ± 0.27	0.48 ± 0.26
	Up 125%	0.36 ± 0.19	0.51 ± 0.25	0.38 ± 0.28
	Up 150%	0.34 ± 0.21	0.36 ± 0.19	0.32 ± 0.27
	Up 175%	0.28 ± 0.20	0.33 ± 0.19	0.33 ± 0.25

Table 4 Results of Priming Checks, Willingness, and Behaviors of PEB in Study 4 (M ± SD)

		Environmentally Friendly Group (n=30)	Control Group (n=30)	Environmental Unfriendly Group (n=30)
Priming checks	Environmental property	100% ± 0%	0% ± 0%	100% ± 0%
	Environmental ratings	4.72 ± 0.82	/	1.27 ± 0.42
Pro-environmental willingness		5.20 ± 0.93	5.02 ± 0.98	4.92 ± 0.88
Carbon neutral behavior	Low gains-low emissions	0.75 ± 0.27	0.79 ± 0.29	0.58 ± 0.38
	Low gains-high emissions	0.96 ± 0.15	0.96 ± 0.12	0.75 ± 0.38
	High gains-low emissions	0.42 ± 0.38	0.40 ± 0.46	0.23 ± 0.38
	High gains-high emissions	0.71 ± 0.30	0.72 ± 0.36	0.55 ± 0.45
Green purchasing behavior	Up 25%	0.80 ± 0.19	0.98± 0.05	0.93 ± 0.11
	Up 50%	0.67 ± 0.25	0.87 ± 0.18	0.82 ± 0.20
	Up 75%	0.44 ± 0.23	0.66 ± 0.27	0.60 ± 0.25
	Up 100%	0.32 ± 0.27	0.52 ± 0.29	0.37 ± 0.36
	Up 125%	0.21 ± 0.21	0.39 ± 0.30	0.32 ± 0.32
	Up 150%	0.15 ± 0.21	0.30 ± 0.27	0.18 ± 0.23
	Up 175%	0.19 ± 0.19	0.23 ± 0.16	0.17 ± 0.12