Neurocognitive Mechanisms Underlying Environmental Behavior: The Reciprocal Influence of Reward-Based Decision-Making and the Sense of Agency

Abstract Despite the documented human impact on climate change, many individuals persist in making decisions that will likely result in a future hostile environment. How can social neuroscience account for the coexistence of a drive for survival and environmentally destructive behavior? Current evidence indicates that sustainable decision-making requires the activation of brain circuits involved with valuation, self-control, and perspective-taking. Here, we propose that our understanding of environmental behavior could be widened by considering the joint contribution of the reward system and the Sense of Agency (SoA), i.e., the feeling of controlling one’s own actions and their consequences. On the one hand, environmental decision-making requires comparing future benefits with immediate costs: given their lower immediate gains, sustainable decisions may be perceived as less tempting compared to unsustainable ones. Further, the negative impact of unsustainable actions may not be salient because their long-term consequences are often situated in remote locations. On the other hand, evidence indicates a reduced SoA over delayed action outcomes, suggesting lower feelings of control over future environmental changes. Additionally, SoA is typically higher for more rewarding outcomes, which may favor environmental harm when this is paired with immediate gratification. However, SoA is also thought to be involved in fostering feelings of responsibility over one’s actions. Hence, we suggest that environmentally damaging behavior may be discouraged by increasing the salience of rewards associated with pro-environmental choices. Furthermore, enhancing SoA over temporally, socially and spatially distant outcomes may generate stronger feelings of responsibility over environmental behavior.