PREFERENCE FOR MACROJUSTICE VERSUS MICROJUSTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS

Both attitudes and behavior toward the environment are affected by the perceived justice of an environmental position. However, both sides i n an environmental conflict will usually claim that justice favors the ir position. Preference for one outcome over another may thus depend o n the type of justice that each outcome represents. The author argues that macrojustice principles, such as equality and responsibility, len d themselves more easily to an environmentalist position, whereas micr ojustice principles, such as equity and procedural justice, are more c ongenial to an antienvironmentalist position. In the present study, pa rticipants were presented with three scenarios in which conflicts had been resolved in either an antienvironmentalist or a proenvironmentali st way. The positions were presented either as promoting individual co ncerns or based on the concerns of the wider society. Overall, macroju stice arguments were more successful for proenvironmentalist decisions and microjustice arguments were more successful for antienvironmental ist decisions.