SOCIAL VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND DECISIONS TO TAKE PROENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

This study assessed whether social value orientations influence decisi ons to actively support a proposal for a transportation pollution redu ction program. Participants with prosocial or proself orientations wer e given the opportunity to send letters of support or opposition to th e program director. Proself participants were more likely to send lett ers opposing the program, whereas prosocial participants were more lik ely to send letters of support. Although proself and prosocial partici pants reported equivalent support for the program and equivalent perce ptions of the program's environmental benefits, proself participants r eported higher perceptions of personal costs associated with the progr am. Social value orientations may lead to differences in environmental behaviors, primarily because of differences in perceptions of the per sonal costs incurred from engaging in these behaviors.