Dedicated vs. Coerced

Two studies explored the role of internal motivation (i.e., motivation rooted in a personal concern for the environment) and external motivation (i.e., motivation rooted in concerns about one's reputation) for proenvironmental behaviors. Study 1 developed two scales to assess these different motivations and demonstrated the important role of internal motivation for proenvironmental responding. Study 1 also provided preliminary results suggesting that external motivation is associated with irritation toward social pressures to be proenvironmental. Study 2 examined the possibility that these feelings of irritation would lead to backlash whereby people high in external motivation engage in less proenvironmental behavior after being socially pressured to be proenvironmental. Backlash was found among people high in external motivation, particularly if they were also low in internal motivation, in response to an intervention that encouraged valuing the environment and promoted autonomous proenvironmental behavior. These findings have important implications for interventions designed to increase proenvironmental behavior.