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How Green Self Image is Related to Subjective Well-Being: Pro-Environmental Values as a Social Norm

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  • Welsch, Heinz
  • Kühling, Jan

Abstract

Recent literature has found that individuals holding a greener self-image display higher levels of life satisfaction. We extend the single-country setting of that research to a transnational perspective and explore whether a relationship exists between green self-image (GSI) and life satisfaction (LS), both European-wide and at the national level. In order to explain differences in the GSI-LS relationship across nations and time, we study the role of pro-environmental values as a shared social norm. We find a significantly positive GSI-LS relationship in a pool of 35 European countries and in the majority of individual countries. In addition, we show that the well-being benefit of holding a green self-image is greater in societies that display more unanimity with respect to pro-environmental attitudes. Invoking the notion of social norms as shared agreements about what is appropriate and inappropriate, we take the latter finding to indicate that part of the well-being benefit from holding pro-environmental values derives from conformity to a social norm.

Suggested Citation

  • Welsch, Heinz & Kühling, Jan, 2018. "How Green Self Image is Related to Subjective Well-Being: Pro-Environmental Values as a Social Norm," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 105-119.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:149:y:2018:i:c:p:105-119
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.03.002
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green self-image; Subjective well-being; Life satisfaction; Social norm; Social division;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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