Ecological risks and community perceptions of fairness and justice: A cross-cultural model

Intergenerational justice is implicit in international commitments to susta inability. If ecological, economic, and social components of sustainability are to be achieved, there is a necessity for intergenerational justice con siderations to be included in decision making. The present generation's ris k judgments should include consideration of the possible outcomes for their children. But intergenerational issues cannot be considered in isolation f rom other current risk and fairness concerns. This article reports on a com munity-based integative model that describes justice and other attitudes an d motivations that determine community and individual proenvironmental beha vior in two nations: Germany and Australia. This model can account for a co nsiderable amount of the Variance in political compliance as well as variou s proenvironmental behaviors. Group or individual self-interests have nearl y no effects on global protective behavior. It is shown that universal as w ell as contextual principles, including distributive (within or between gen erations), procedural, and interactive justice, play a crucial role in fair ness judgments. Other principles are also taken into account, such as effic iency, environmental rights, and rights to economic welfare. The results ar e discussed in relation to the importance of complex community fairness jud gments in predicting and evaluating acceptance of political decisions, and for promoting proenvironmental behavior.