Pro-environmental attitudes, altruism, and COVID-19 risk management behavior

Abstract

Limiting the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic is a collective action problem that calls on individuals to act, not just for their benefit but also for the benefit of others in their community. Many environmental problems, especially climate change, share this characteristic, which invites inquiry on whether those predisposed to act to solve environmental problems may also be predisposed to act to solve health-focused collective action problems. In this study, we use a survey instrument to examine how pro-environmental attitudes and two types of altruism relate to the tendency to follow social distancing guidelines and limit voluntary social exposure during the pandemic. We find that pro-environmental behaviors predict a feeling of moral obligation to reduce COVID-19 risk and a lower level of voluntary social exposure. Voluntary, individual-level altruism has no relationship with social exposure. These findings point to important insights about the connections between different types of collective action and the nuances in altruistic behavior. These insights may lead to essential guidance for public health and environmental messaging that respects and leverages the differences in voluntary, individual-level altruism and collective altruism.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• risk behavior
• pro-environmental attitudes
• altruism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Including: chronic lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, serious heart conditions, compromised immune system, severe obesity (BMI > 40), diabetes, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, liver disease

2 Moral Obligation Question: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Practicing social distancing and other precautions is a moral obligation to protect those around me from COVID-19. [5-point scale from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree]

3 COVID-19 Worry Question: How do you feel about the possibility that you or someone in your immediate family might become seriously ill from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease)? [Very worried, Somewhat worried, Not too worried, Not worried at all]

4 However, it is worth noting that the SRA had a positive relationship to population density.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund from the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont.