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Impeding ecological sustainability through selective moral disengagement

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  • Albert Bandura

Abstract

The present paper documents the influential role played by selective moral disengagement for social practices that cause widespread human harm and degrade the environment. Disengagement of moral self-sanctions enables people to pursue detrimental practices freed from the restraint of self-censure. This is achieved by investing ecologically harmful practices with worthy purposes through social, national, and economic justifications; enlisting exonerative comparisons that render the practices righteous; use of sanitising and convoluting language that disguises what is being done; reducing accountability by displacement and diffusion of responsibility; ignoring, minimising, and disputing harmful effects; and dehumanising and blaming the victims and derogating the messengers of ecologically bad news. These psychosocial mechanisms operate at both the individual and social systems levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Bandura, 2007. "Impeding ecological sustainability through selective moral disengagement," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1), pages 8-35.
  • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijisde:v:2:y:2007:i:1:p:8-35
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Aparna Venugopal & Dhirendra Shukla, 2019. "Identifying consumers' engagement with renewable energy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 53-63, January.
    2. Christian W. Scheiner & Christian V. Baccarella & John Bessant & Kai-Ingo Voigt, 2018. "Participation Motives, Moral Disengagement, And Unethical Behaviour In Idea Competitions," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(06), pages 1-24, August.
    3. Tansif Ur Rehman & Sajida Parveen & Mehmood Ahmed Usmani & Muhammad Ahad Yar Khan, 2023. "Varieties and Skills of Cybercrime," International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), IGI Global, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Narwal, Preeti & Rai, Shivam, 2022. "Individual differences and moral disengagement in Pay-What-You-Want pricing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 528-547.
    5. Susanne Stoll-Kleemann & Philipp Franikowski & Susanne Nicolai, 2023. "Development and Validation of a Scale to Assess Moral Disengagement in High-Carbon Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, January.
    6. Preeti Narwal & J. K. Nayak & Shivam Rai, 2022. "Assessing Customers' Moral Disengagement from Reciprocity Concerns in Participative Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 537-554, June.
    7. Kumar, Bipul & Sinha, Piyush Kumar & Shukla, P. R. & Abhishek, 2013. "Broadening the Concept of Sustainability and Measuring its Impact on Firm’s Performance," IIMA Working Papers WP2013-08-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    8. Alexandra Maftei & Andrei-Corneliu Holman, 2021. "Environmental Concerns and the Role Played by Civic Moral Disengagement and Time Perspective: a Pilot Experimental Study," Postmodern Openings, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 12(1Sup1), pages 54-70, April.
    9. Andrea Marais-Potgieter & Andrew Thatcher, 2020. "Identification of Six Emergent Types Based on Cognitive and Affective Constructs that Explain Individuals’ Relationship with the Biosphere," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-28, September.
    10. Susanne Stoll-Kleemann & Tim O’Riordan, 2020. "Revisiting the Psychology of Denial Concerning Low-Carbon Behaviors: From Moral Disengagement to Generating Social Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    11. Robert D. Gifford & Angel K. S. Chen, 2017. "Why aren’t we taking action? Psychological barriers to climate-positive food choices," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 165-178, January.
    12. Salla Annala & Satu Viljainen & Merja Pakkanen & Kristiina Hukki, 2016. "Consumer preferences in engaging in a sustainable lifestyle," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18.
    13. Nestar Russell & Annette Bolton, 2019. "Climate Catastrophe and Stanley Milgram’s Electric Shock “Obedience” Experiments: An Uncanny Analogy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-27, June.
    14. Liebhart, Margrit & Garcia-Lorenzo, Lucia, 2010. "Between planned and emergent change: decision maker’s perceptions of managing change in organisations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 29866, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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