Application of the Common is Moral Heuristic to Climate-Related Behavior

This study examines how the commonness of different climate-related behaviors, such as diet style, consumption, mobility choices, and public engagement, influences participants’ moral judgments of these behaviors. This study is based on previous research investigating the so-called “Common is Moral” heuristic (Lindström et al., 2018) that we willl extend to climate-relevant behavior. Furthermore, we extend it by not only considering static norms, but also incorporating dynamic norms which might help reduce the psychological distance of climate change and the threat posed by sustainable behavior (Sparkman & Walton, 2017; Sparkman et al., 2021). We also want to explore how individual factors, like one’s personality or climate change attitude, influence these judgments. This study applies the research of Lindström et al. (2018) on the “Common is Moral” heuristic to the topic of climate-related behavior. This research could offer important insights about the role of descriptive norms for individual climate action and practical implications for norm-based interventions regarding these behaviors. It might also extend the literature on the role of dynamic norms compared to static norms in climate change communication.