The greening of a nation? Group-based underpinnings of environmental policies
Aleksandra Cisłak [1], Adrian D. Wójcik [2], Aleksandra Cichocka [3], Julia Borkowska [1],
Taciano Milfont [4]
[1] SWPS University [2] Nicolaus Copernicus University [3] University of Kent [4] Waikato University
In this work, we aim to present the national identity account of environmental reluctance vs. readiness and integrate the literature on group-based underpinnings of environmental attitudes. We differentiate between secure and defensive forms of national identity and argue that national narcissism (a defensive form of national identity) may undermine pro-environmental efforts. We present empirical findings from 10 studies in Poland (including four representative surveys) on the relationship between national narcissism, national identification, and environmental reluctance — evidenced by lower support for pro-environmental policies such as the Green Deal and support for renewable sources of energy, higher support for anti-environmental policies and support for the consumption of energy from fossil fuels, enhanced belief in carbon conspiracies and lower carbon readiness, that is, readiness to make life-style sacrifice (such as decreasing meat consumption or refusing to use air transport) in order to lower one’s carbon footprint. Thus, we demonstrate that national narcissism is a crucial barrier to creating global environmental readiness. We argue that national image concerns and the need for recognition characteristic for national narcissism underpin these effects. We show that national narcissism is linked to favorable attitudes toward political greenwashing, that is, unfounded claims of environmental supremacy of one’s country, but not toward genuine environmental actions, and that the support for genuine environmental actions among those high in national narcissism rises with the increases in funds dedicated to reinforcing the national image.
