Abstract

Adopting an empirical approach, this meta-analysis aims to contributing to the ongoing debate on anthropocentrism versus non-anthropocentrism by examining the relative correlational strength of two corresponding motives with laypeople’s personal environmentalism—a constellation of psychological and behavioral outcomes reflecting broad advocacy for environmental protection. Drawing on 34 relevant studies (99 effect sizes), meta-analytical results showed that personal environmentalism was more strongly linked to non-anthropocentric motives (_r_ = 0.36, _95% CI_ = [0.32, 0.39]) than to anthropocentric motives, whether altruistic (_r_ = 0.24, _95% CI_ = [0.19, 0.29]) or egoistic (_r_ = 0.12, _95% CI_ = [0.06, 0.18]). These findings suggest that non-anthropocentric motives, rooted in moral concern for non-human entities such as plants and animals, play a unique role in motivating personal environmentalism. These findings provide a novel empirical perspective underscoring the irreplaceability of non-anthropocentrism as an ethical approach.