Addressing the Motivational Gap and Tackling Moral Disengagement

Abstract

In this chapter, we tentatively suggest some strategies to increase emitters’ motivation to accept moral responsibility for the consequences of their luxury emissions, and to accordingly acknowledge their remedial responsibility for tackling climate change. First, emitters’ motivation can be increased by enhancing their moral judgement on the basis of common-sense morality, or by invoking alternative moral values. Second, the motivational force of the underlying reasons for deploying mechanisms of moral disengagement can be reduced by encouraging people to evaluate and redefine their self-interested motives or by addressing the perceived demandingness of morality. Third, we argue that the propensity for moral disengagement should itself be tackled as well.