Mortality Salience Motivates the Defense of Environmental Values and Increases Collective Ecoguilt

In highlighting the potentially catastrophic effects of environmentally harmful behavior, proenvironmental campaigns may inadvertently induce what social psychologists call mortality salience. An uncomfortable awareness of one's inevitable demise, mortality salience motivates individuals to act in line with important social values and to feel guilty when they fail to do so. Guilt, in turn, motivates proenvironmental behavior. It is unclear, however, whether individuals who do not value the environment are influenced by such appeals. The present research tests the conditions under which drawing attention to mortality increases environmental guilt (i.e., ecoguilt) among individuals who vary in their endorsement of proenvironmental values. We find that mortality salience increases ecoguilt when individuals who strongly endorse environmental values have those proenvironmental values made salient. In comparison, mortality salience does not influence ecoguilt for individuals who weakly endorse environmental values, regardless of whether environmental values are made salient.