... If you tell them to...
In this case, the researchers used a smaller sample — 94 German university students — all of whom were shown two pictures of human suffering: “a homeless person leaning against the wall of a house and a diseased child.” Half the sample was told to feel empathy toward those depicted in the images, while the other half was instructed to “try to stay neutral and detached.”
Then the participants’ “environmental intentions” were measured — for instance, how much they agreed with statements like, “In future, I will look for ways to reuse things.” The result showed that those who had been instructed to feel compassion showed stronger environmental intentions as well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/19/the-surprising-reason-why-some-people-become-environmentalists-and-others-dont/I think it is hilarious to call this science.
