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The self‐regulatory function of anticipated pride and guilt in a sustainable and healthy consumption context
Author(s) -
Onwezen Marleen C.,
Bartels Jos,
Antonides Gerrit
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.1991
Subject(s) - pride , psychology , social psychology , context (archaeology) , theory of planned behavior , consumption (sociology) , function (biology) , social norms approach , predictive power , explanatory power , sustainability , sustainable consumption , control (management) , perception , economics , sociology , paleontology , social science , philosophy , ecology , management , epistemology , evolutionary biology , neuroscience , political science , biology , law
Although individuals generally value health and sustainability, they do not always behave in a manner that is consistent with their standards. The current study examines whether attitudes and social norms (i.e., descriptive and injunctive norms) can evoke anticipated pride and guilt, which, in turn, guide behavioural intentions. This self‐regulatory function of anticipated pride and guilt is examined in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) extended with descriptive norms. Study 1 (N = 944) was a cross‐sectional study in a sustainable (organic) behaviour context, and Study 2 (N = 990) was a study with a delayed outcome measure in a sustainable (fair trade) and a healthy (fruit consumption) behaviour context. We demonstrate that both negative and positive self‐conscious emotions guide behaviour because they mediate the effects of both attitudes and social norms on intentions. Furthermore, the results show that the mediating effects of anticipated pride and guilt significantly improve the explanatory power of the extended TPB in all contexts; however, there are differences in the size of the effects, such that the mediating effect of emotions is larger in a sustainable compared to a healthy context. Theoretical implications of our findings are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.