Affect and Impact Neglect in Sustainable Decision-Making

Abstract

In a recent special section on Sustainability and Emotion, Schneider and van der Linden present how sustainability science could benefit from affective science to address important unanswered questions about the psychological and affective antecedents of people's engagement in relatively high-impact sustainable behaviors. Here, we underline the importance of combining the motivational role of positive affect with an impact-focused research agenda to understand the causal role of affect in sustainable decision-making and to develop communication strategies harnessing affective mechanisms to promote impactful sustainable behaviors. We present potential links connecting affective experience with perceived impact and adoption of sustainable behaviors. Finally, we argue for communication strategies aiming to enhance positive affect associated with high-impact behaviors.