气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants

CCPortal

DOI	10.1038/s41893-022-00902-y
	Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants
	Bain, Paul G.; Bongiorno, Renata
发表日期	2022
ISSN	2398-9629
起始页码	669
结束页码	673
卷号	5 期号:8 页码:5
英文摘要	If people had truly unlimited wants as assumed in economics, pursuing sustainability would be a real challenge. This study provides evidence that most people's wants are moderate rather than unlimited, suggesting that policies limiting wealth in pursuit of sustainability could be acceptable to many. Humans have unlimited wants. This foundational economic principle and widely accepted assumption about human nature poses considerable challenges to addressing sustainability because pursuing wealth and economic growth to meet unlimited wants increases resource use and pollution. Here we show evidence that this principle is not universal, and actually applies only to a minority of people. Across 42 community samples (N = 7,860) from 33 countries spanning 6 continents, we examined how much money people wanted in their absolutely ideal life. In 86% of countries the majority of people thought they would achieve their absolutely ideal lives with US$10 million or less, and in some countries as little as US$1 million or less. However, a substantial minority (8-39% across countries) wanted as much money as they could obtain, indicating unlimited wants. Limited and unlimited wealth ideals were not related to country differences in economic development, but those with unlimited wants tended to be younger, city-dwelling people who valued power, success and independence, and lived in countries with a greater collective focus and acceptance of power differences. The results suggest that transformative approaches relying on limiting wealth and growth to achieve sustainability may be more consistent with human ideals and aspirations than commonly believed.
学科领域	Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies
语种	英语
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
WOS记录号	WOS:000811969600005
来源期刊	NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/272844
作者单位	University of Bath; Bath Spa University; University of Exeter
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Bain, Paul G.,Bongiorno, Renata. Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants[J],2022,5(8):5.
APA	Bain, Paul G.,&Bongiorno, Renata.(2022).Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants.NATURE SUSTAINABILITY,5(8),5.
MLA	Bain, Paul G.,et al."Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants".NATURE SUSTAINABILITY 5.8(2022):5.