Doing the right thing even if you might fail: does moral obligation interact with collective efficacy to predict environmental activism?

Climate change poses a significant challenge, and despite growing calls from activists around the world, those in power have been slow to act. Plausibly, many would-be environmental activists may experience low collective efficacy, which can undermine collective action. A growing body of work suggests moral obligation is an important predictor of collective action. I tested the hypothesis that low collective efficacy undermines motivation to engage in collective action to a lesser degree for individuals who are high in moral obligation compared to those who are low in moral obligation. Study 1 examined qualitative interviews with 11 environmental activists to see how they discuss moral obligation and efficacy when talking about their activism. The majority of activists spoke of climate change as a moral issue and all activists who expressed low efficacy indicated moral motivations for their activism. Study 2, a secondary analysis on two correlational samples, provided some evidence of an interaction in a sample of undergraduate students (n=368), but not in a representative Canadian sample (n=1029). Study 3, a correlational study with an undergraduate student sample (n=428), showed no evidence of an interaction. Finally, Study 4 was an experiment (n=405); however, the experimental conditions failed to manipulate moral obligation and collective efficacy. Supplementary correlational tests once again provided no evidence of an interaction. Across all three quantitative studies, moral obligation was strongly associated with environmental activism even when controlling for collective efficacy. Thus, although the interaction hypothesis was not supported, these findings still provide evidence that moral obligation is an important predictor of environmental activism and deserves more attention. Those interested in inspiring environmental activism, such as activists and policymakers, need to focus not only on efficacy but also on the moral beliefs about and moral obligation toward climate change.