From Equality-Based Respect to Environmental Activism: Antecedents and Consequences of Global Identity

Global identity reflects social identification with the world and the largest, most inclusive human ingroup and is generally associated with behavior that serves the world and all humans, such as transnational cooperation or proenvironmental engagement. While the outcomes of being globally identified are well-established, the antecedents of global identity are only partially explored. Drawing from research suggesting that respect fosters identification in small groups, we argue that the general experience of being respected as an equal by others increases global identification. In an online study with 469 Germans (students and nonstudents), we tested the relation between equality-based respect and global identification in a structural equation model, with proenvironmental intentions and donation behavior as outcome variables. As expected, equality-based respect, but not other forms of social recognition (need-based care and achievement-based social esteem), predicted global identity while higher global identity, in turn, predicted proenvironmental activism. These effects were substantial beyond known predictors of proenvironmental behavior and thus suggest that equality-based respect represents an important facet of responses to global challenges.