Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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The relationship between moral competences and sustainable

consumption among higher education students
Carmen Valor a, *, Paolo Antonetti b, Amparo Merino a
a
Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 23 Alberto Aguilera, 28015, Madrid, Spain
b
NEOMA Business School, Rouen Campus, 1 rue du Marechal Juin, 71630, Mont Saint Aignan, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Despite claims of the importance of students developing moral competences in the context of Education
Received 10 May 2019 for Sustainable Consumption, the literature lacks a systematic perspective that empirically assesses the
Received in revised form association between moral competences and sustainable consumption. To address this research gap, the
30 October 2019
relationship between moral competences, which is operationalized through the Values in Action In-
Accepted 3 November 2019
Available online 1 January 2020
ventory of Strengths, and students’ adoption of sustainable consumption is examined. This paper con-
tributes to the literature concerning sustainable consumption by enhancing our knowledge of its
Handling editor: Prof. Jiri Jaromir Kleme
s correlates. This study identifies seven moral competences directly associated with sustainable con-
sumption that, thus, could be included as learning objectives in Education for Sustainable Consumption
Keywords: curricula. Moreover, this study shows that the other moral competences are indirectly associated with
Education for sustainability sustainable consumption, suggesting that nurturing these competences may also facilitate the adoption
Character education of sustainable consumption. Additionally, this study contributes to the development of Education for
Character strengths Sustainable Consumption curricula by (1) providing a comprehensive, theory-based and empirically
Moral competences
tested operationalization of moral competences and (2) validating the Values In Action Inventory of
Sustainable consumption
Strengths framework as a tool for the operationalization and assessment of students’ development of
moral competences.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction demonstrated by the inclusion of SC as one of the UN’s sustainable

Faced with the social and environmental crisis raised by climate
change, higher education institutions are called to “empower and
equip current and future generations to meet their needs using a
balanced and integrated approach to the economic, social and
environmental dimensions of sustainable development” (Leicht
et al., 2018, 4). A more specific mandate for educators is to teach
students to adopt sustainable consumption (SC hereafter)
(Adombent et al., 2014). SC could be defined as “the acquisition,
usage, and disposition of products on a desire to minimize or
eliminate any harmful effects and maximize the long-run beneficial
impact on society” (Webb et al., 2008, 92). SC comprises different
practices, such as the acquisition of products with environmental or
social criteria or a reduction in consumption (Adombent et al.,
2014). The importance of developing SC early in life is
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: cvalor@comillas.edu (C. Valor), paolo.antonetti@neoma-bs.fr
(P. Antonetti), amerino@comillas.edu (A. Merino).
development goals (SDG 12) (Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018, 232) and
its inclusion as a learning outcome in Education for Sustainable
Development (UNESCO, 2005). Thus, education is regarded as “one
of the most powerful tools for providing individuals with the
appropriate skills and competencies to become sustainable con-
sumers” (OECD, 2008, 25).
However, educating for SC can be a daunting task without
knowledge of the factors that facilitate the adoption of SC. Tradi-
tional content-based approaches aiming to develop students’ un-
derstanding of sustainability-related problems have been shown to
be insufficient for encouraging the adoption of SC (Barth and
Michelsen, 2013). Greater knowledge of socio-environmental
problems is not associated with an increased likelihood of behav-
ioral change (Chuvieco et al., 2018) because awareness of socio-
environmental problems does not necessarily lead to a greater
ability to undertake personal change (Vicente-Molina et al., 2013).
There are increasing calls to equip students with a set of moral
competences enabling them to address social and environmental
challenges as consumers and citizens (Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119161
0959-6526/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161
For instance, UNEP’s approach to SC stresses the importance of
developing students’ ability to participate in the stewardship of
society’s collective life, highlighting learners’ development of moral
competences, such as concern for justice, appreciation of the
interrelatedness of individuals and society, and the capacity for
compassion (UNEP, 2010). Moral competences extend beyond un-
derstanding moral concepts and comprise “skills, attitudes and
abilities acquired through experience, which in fact facilitate the
engagement in ethical behaviours” (Morales-Sa nchez and Cabello-
Medina, 2013: 721).
Despite this growing interest in the role of moral competences
in SC (Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018) and although moral compe-
tences underpin the so-called key competences for sustainability
(UNESCO, 2017), three aspects are underresearched in the existing
literature related to Education for SC. First, the extant definitions of
moral competences in the domain of Education for Sustainability
emphasize the importance of understanding while underplaying
the importance of other components of competence, such as moral
sensitivity or implementation (Westera, 2001). Second, the
normative proposals of learning objectives do not systematically
include all moral competences as only selected competences, such
as perseverance (Svanstro €m et al., 2008) or fairness (Rieckmann,
2012), are mentioned. Thus, a comprehensive and systematic
conceptualization of moral competences is necessary as a precon-
dition for establishing learning objectives that address the multi-
faceted and multidimensional nature of moral competences as
argued below. Third, evidence regarding whether moral compe-
tences actually covary with SC is limited. Previous studies show
that a few moral competences, such as Self-regulation (Bamberg,
2013) and Love of learning (Luchs and Mooradian, 2012), are
correlated with SC, but the literature still lacks a systematic ex-
amination of which moral competences should be nurtured on the
basis of their relationship with SC. This lack of literature is likely
due to the difficulty in finding a far-reaching operational frame-
work to assess moral competences (Morales-Sa nchez and Cabello-
Medina, 2013). To overcome this limitation, drawing from the
literature related to positive psychology and moral education,
moral competences are measured using the Values in Action In-
ventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) framework (Peterson and Seligman,
2004), which is an empirically validated and comprehensive in-
ventory of moral competences (McGrath and Walker, 2016).
This study addresses the following two research questions: Is
there a relationship between SC and moral competences? (RQ1)
Are some moral competences more strongly associated with SC
than others? (RQ2). By addressing these research questions, this
paper contributes to the literature related to the antecedents of SC
and Education for SC. First, this study offers empirical evidence
suggesting that moral competences are associated with SC, thus
extending our understanding of the covariates of SC. The results
obtained using a dual analytical strategy lead to the conclusion that
seven moral competences (i.e., Self-regulation, Love of learning,
Kindness, Appreciation of beauty, Humility and modesty, Leadership,
and Perspective) are directly associated with SC. The first three
moral competences have already been noted as antecedents of SC
(e.g., Luchs and Mooradian, 2012; Song and Kim, 2018). This paper
extends the previous literature by identifying four additional moral
competences associated with SC. This study also finds evidence
suggesting that most students who engage in SC practices
demonstrate that they have developed all moral competences.
These results suggest that the other character strengths may be
indirectly associated with SC through more complex and hitherto
unexplored mediation mechanisms. Instead of being directly
associated with SC, these strengths might be linked to other vari-
ables, such as enhancement of intrinsic motivation (Brown and
Kasser, 2005) and the development of an ego-decentered self
(Franquesa et al., 2017), which, in turn, lead to SC.
Second, this study contributes to the development of Education
for SC curricula. This study provides a unifying, theory-based and
empirically tested operationalization of moral competences that
responds to the call for a greater theoretical underpinning for Ed-
ucation for Sustainability (Karatzoglou, 2013; Stephens and
Graham, 2010), specifically Education for SC (Huckle and Wals,
2015; Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018). In addition, the results indi-
cate that moral competences should be considered in a more
comprehensive and systematic way in curricula since they may
facilitate students’ adoption of a more sustainable lifestyle. Thus,
this study provides empirical evidence supporting claims related to
the foregrounding of moral competences in curricula (Svanstro €m
et al., 2008). Finally, this study validates the VIA-IS framework as
a reliable tool for the operationalization and assessment of stu-
dents’ development of moral competences, responding to the calls
of previous authors (Adomßent et al., 2014; Barth and Rieckmann,
2016).
2. Moral competences: definition and measurement
Despite their centrality in the extant frameworks of compe-
tences in Education for SC and Education for Sustainability, moral
competences have not been comprehensively and systematically
examined to date. Moral competences could be simply defined as
the ability to actually do good, which requires moral intelligence
(i.e., knowing how to do good) and moral orientation (i.e., the will
to do what is considered good) (Lennick and Kiel, 2011; Lind, 2008).
Similarly, Park and Peterson (2006) argue that a good character is at
the core of moral competence because a good character makes
individuals both desire and pursue good. The notion of moral
competence has been widely addressed in the management liter-
ature to frame ethical decision making (Bastons, 2007; Morales-
Sanchez and Cabello-Medina, 2013; 2015), leadership and work
performance (Lennick and Kiel, 2011) but has seldom been applied
to the consumption realm. Different human faculties, such as
knowledge, ability, and motivation, coalesce in the broad concept of
moral competence to effectively direct one’s behavior towards
goals that are considered worthy and good in their own right (Park
and Peterson, 2006).
Following this reasoning, moral competences have been defined
as multifaceted. Most authors identify the following three facets in
moral competences, and each facet corresponds to the traditional
psychological aspects of morality (Audi, 2009; Cohen et al., 2014):
1) the affective or motivational facet, which is defined by the will-
ingness to behave under moral principles or the desire to do good;
2) the cognitive facet, which is related to the ability to consistently
apply moral orientations to do good and avoid doing bad; and 3)
the behavioral facet, which involves acting in causal connection
with appropriate reasons. The distinction among these three facets
is relevant considering evidence suggesting that high levels of
moral intentions and moral reasoning do not necessarily imply
moral action (Crossan et al., 2013). An additional facet, i.e., the
situational facet, is emphasized by Audi (2009) to include the
specificities of the domain or type of human situation in which the
moral competence characteristically operates. One of the most
evoked frameworks summarizing the multiple facets of moral
competences was proposed by Rest (1986), who identifies the
following four internal processes that assemble to produce moral
actions: moral sensitivity to perceive the existence of a moral
problem; moral judgment regarding the moral labeling of possible
courses of actions; moral motivation to prioritize moral values,
which enhances individuals’ moral intention; and implementation,
which includes the social and psychological skills necessary to
carry out the chosen action.
 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161
Moral competence is not only multifaceted but also multidi-
mensional because it is expressed in different ways (Cohen et al.,
2014); thus, we must refer to “moral competences” rather than
“moral competence” (Morales-Sa nchez and Cabello-Medina, 2015).
In addition to their multifaceted and multidimensional nature,
moral competences are learnable. According to a long tradition
within moral philosophy and moral psychology, moral compe-
tences are believed to be acquired and enhanced by practice (Cohen
et al., 2014; Morales-Sa nchez and Cabello-Medina, 2015), which
requires acquiring expertise in the abovementioned facets to
integrate the moral competences. Thus, Narvaez and Lapsley (2005)
define the meaning of expertise in each dimension as follows: ex-
perts in moral sensitivity discern the elements of a moral situation;
experts in moral judgement display multiple tools to solve moral
problems; experts in moral motivation cultivate a moral identity
leading them to prioritize moral goals; and experts in imple-
mentation maintain their focus and take steps to complete actions.
Such expertise in moral competences can be developed not only
through explicit and implicit learning and observing and modeling
the virtuous behavior displayed by other people but also through
self-examination, reflection and conscious self-regulation (Audi,
2009; Crossan et al., 2013; Park and Peterson, 2006).
The previous discussion outlined the fundamental features of
the concept of moral competences as follows: moral competences
are multifaceted and multidimensional and can be nurtured. The
multiplicity of the facets and dimensions of moral competences
renders the development of comprehensive measurement frame-
works challenging (Morales-Sa nchez and Cabello-Medina, 2013).
However, in the context of SC education, any accepted conceptu-
alization of moral competence should lend itself to empirical
measurement as moral competences could be used to set learning
objectives and assess and monitor students’ learning.
Drawing from positive psychology, the Values in Action In-
ventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) framework (Peterson and Seligman,
2004) was proposed as a measurement framework as this frame-
work is a comprehensive, measurable and empirically validated
inventory of moral competences. This framework assumes that
moral character is multidimensional such that a single virtue can be
displayed by different character strengths (Park and Peterson,
2006), thus providing a comprehensive assessment of moral char-
acter. The proposed character strengths meet a set of criteria,
including that they are valued in their own right regardless of their
consequences, are found in moral paragons and are learnable or
developed by practice (Peterson and Seligman, 2004).
Several reasons explain why moral competences are oper-
ationalized through the VIA-IS framework. First, the conceptuali-
zations of character strengths and moral competences are
equivalent since strengths of character are defined as skills that
lead to a morally praiseworthy action (Peterson and Seligman,
2004, 14). The definition of character strengths acknowledges
their multifaceted nature as they are reflected “in thoughts, feel-
ings, and behaviors” (Park et al., 2004, 603) and comprise both
motivation and ability (Park and Peterson, 2006). Second, several
authors note that character strengths can be considered moral
competences when they are exercised to achieve a praiseworthy
goal that expresses what is considered the best in human beings
(Sison and Ferrero, 2015). The items used to measure each strength
do not specify a moral target (Peterson and Seligman, 2004),
facilitating the use of the VIA-IS as an explanatory framework of
different moral behaviors. Third, both character strengths and
moral competences have been proven to be morally relevant in
different cultural settings (Park et al., 2006). Fourth, proponents of
the VIA-IS framework have demonstrated that character strengths
can be cultivated (Peterson and Seligman, 2004).
The VIA-IS framework presents two fundamental advantages
3
over other existing measures. First, to the best of our knowledge,
this framework represents the most comprehensive assessment
tool of moral competences. Other measures exist for a selected
number of competences, such as humility-honesty or self-
regulation (Cohen and Morse, 2014) and integrity, responsibility,
compassion, and forgiveness (Lennick and Kiel, 2011). Other
comprehensive inventories of moral competences have been out-
nchez and Cabello-Medina, 2015); however,
lined (e.g., Morales-Sa
these inventories have not been converted into scales with
acceptable psychometric properties. In contrast, the VIA-IS frame-
work has been empirically validated with different populations
from different countries (McGrath and Walker, 2016; Peterson and
Seligman, 2004).
Moreover, the VIA-IS framework has been used in past research
to explain SC. Song and Kim (2018) examined whether a subset of
these moral competences could explain the differences between
sustainable and non-sustainable consumers by performing a clas-
sification tree model. These authors found that self-control and
courage explained the differences in SC; however, these authors did
not find any significant results in the other moral competences
examined (namely, empathy, wisdom, altruism, fairness, and spir-
ituality). Corral-Verdugo et al. (2015) found that moral compe-
tences were associated with pro-social behavior (SC is included as a
facet of this behavior). However, in their measurement model,
competences were collapsed into a third-order construct called
“Common virtues”, which prevents the reader from understanding
exactly which of the competences is more clearly associated with
SC. Although these studies did not provide a complete answer to
our research questions, they are invaluable in suggesting that a
significant association exists between moral competences and SC
and showing the adequacy of the VIA-IS instrument in measuring
moral competences.
3. Method
3.1. Participants and procedure
Using convenience sampling, a questionnaire was administered
to 807 first-year students (401 women) at a mid-sized Spanish
private university. The students had different academic back-
grounds as follows: 38.4% of the students studied in the business
school, 31.7% of the students studied in the law school, and 31.7% of
the students studied in the engineering school. Altogether, these
three faculties accounted for more than 80% of the total student
base at this university, ensuring a very high representativeness of
the student population at this institution. The students were
recruited in their classrooms during classes, although participation
was voluntary and could be ceased at any time during the study.
The teacher was not present during the data collection. Permission
for the data collection was granted by the deans, and the study
design was approved by the Committee of Ethics. The participants
completed the questionnaire online by answering the relevant
scales described below, which were presented in a random order to
avoid order bias, and a few demographic questions.
3.2. Measures
Moral competences were measured through the VIA-IS in-
ventory, which is a self-report questionnaire evaluating 24
strengths (240 items, a ¼.855) (Park et al., 2006) [1]. Sample items
include “I find the world a very interesting place” (curiosity), “I
always let bygones be bygones” (forgiveness) and “I never quit a
task before it is done” (persistence). For each item, the Spanish
~ edo et al. (2014) was used. The par-
translation validated by Azan
ticipants were instructed to answer each item in relation to
4 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161
“whether the statement describes what you are like”, and the re-
sponses are anchored on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (very
much unlike me) to 5 (very much like me).
SC was measured using 6 items adapted from Webb et al. (2008).
This scale fits our research context since the items examine a va-
riety of practices ranging from the acquisition of products based on
social or environmental criteria (e.g., “I choose products from
responsible firms”) to practices of consumption reduction (“I make
efforts to reduce my consumption”) (a¼.822). The participants
were asked to indicate the extent to which the statements
described their behavior on a 5-point Likert scale.
Gender and faculty were considered control variables as some
evidence suggests that such variables might influence engagement
in sustainable practices (Brough et al., 2016). All participants were
aged between 19 and 21 years at the time of the study.
3.3. Analytical strategy
Because this study represents the first investigation to empiri-
cally examine how moral competences influence SC, an exploratory
approach was used based on a combination of a multiple regression
analysis (MRA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis
(fsQCA). This strategy combines a net-effects analysis (i.e., MRA)
that estimates which character strengths are more strongly asso-
ciated with SC in the overall sample with a set-theoretic approach
that studies how complex configurations of causes converge at the
individual level to explain the outcome of interest (Fiss, 2011;
Woodside, 2013; Zyphur, 2009). In this respect, fsQCA operates
similarly to algorithms that cluster participants into specific sub-
groups or profiles based on their characteristics. However, FsQCA
has the advantage of creating the causal configurations at the in-
dividual level (for a discussion of the differences between fsQCA
and cluster analyses, see Fiss, 2011). fsQCA is a research approach
based on Boolean algebra that examines how configurations of
causes work together to explain an outcome of interest in partici-
pants with a specific profile. As a set-theoretic method, fsQCA fo-
cuses on the analysis of how certain attributes combine in terms of
antecedent and outcome conditions (Ragin, 2008). Therefore, the
analysis focuses on examining the extent to which a case (i.e., a
student) displays a certain property (i.e., a set membership of a
character strength) and the extent to which the occurrence of such
a property is related to the presence of other properties (i.e., set
relationships with the SC set). In contrast, the MRA approach aims
to estimate the net effect of several independent variables on an
outcome of interest. However, such an estimation offers only one
combination of variables that explains a certain amount of variation
in the dependent variable (Zyphur, 2009). Using the two methods
serves to 1) identify the most important predictors through MRA
and 2) explore complex combinations relevant in specific sub-
groups or profiles of students and complement the general pattern
of results through fsQCA (Greckhamer et al., 2013; Woodside, 2013;
Zyphur, 2009).
Importantly, fsQCA allows for an examination of the data while
relaxing the assumption of finality, i.e., the notion that only one
model explains the relationship between character strengths and
SC typical of linear models (Zyphur, 2009). If MRA shows a positive
significant association between a moral competence and SC, the
analysis assumes that such relationships is replicated in all partic-
ipants in the sample. In reality, however, several subgroups or
profiles within any given sample might not be consistent with the
general pattern of the data (Woodside, 2013). Moreover, in an ed-
ucation context, it seems reasonable to argue that although some
strengths might be more conducive to SC overall, among different
types of students, different combinations of moral competences
can lead to sustainability-related outcomes (Woodside, 2013).
fsQCA allows for equifinality, namely, the possibility that alterna-
tive causal configurations might yield the same outcome. Conse-
quently, fsQCS also allows for an exploration of whether there are
profiles within the sample that are inconsistent with the general
results of the MRA model.
fsQCA also embraces the notion of asymmetry, i.e., the notion
that one factor might be relevant for the prediction of the outcome
in one combination that applies to a subgroup or profile of in-
dividuals while simultaneously being irrelevant or even counter-
productive in another causal configuration that explains the
outcome in another group (Ragin, 2008). For the MRA, the software
IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was used; for the fsQCA, the software pro-
gram fs/QCA2.0, which uses the Quine-McCluskey algorithm, was
used to identify the combinations of conditions that are minimally
sufficient to cause the outcome while eliminating the combinations
that are only sometimes present (Ragin and Davey, 2016).
3.4. Validation of the measurements
After calculating the 24 character strength indices by averaging
the relevant items of each strength (Peterson and Seligman, 2004),
these indices were used as the independent variables in our MRA
and the causal conditions in our fsQCA. Table 1 reports the
descriptive statistics and z-scores of skewness or kurtosis used to
examine whether the strengths are normally distributed. The re-
sults fall within 3 and þ3, indicating that the scales respect the
assumptions of normality and, therefore, can be examined through
MRA (Field, 2005). Then, the correlation among the 24 character
strengths was examined. The intercorrelations among the strengths
are presented in Table 2. As expected, there is a significant level of
correlation among the strengths, and none of the intercorrelations
is above 0.85, which is the threshold that could raise concerns in
terms of discriminant validity (Hair et al., 2011). Furthermore,
Harman’s single factor test was performed to assess the potential
effect of common method bias in the data. The exploratory factor
analysis with no rotation showed that 25% of the variance was
explained by one factor (Podsakoff et al., 2012). This result suggests
that common method bias was not a concern in our analysis.
3.5. Calibration of the measurements
fsQCA requires a preliminary calibration process to translate the
psychometric scores (which varied from 1 to 5 in our case) into
fuzzy-set membership scores (which always vary from 0 to 1). The
calibration identified the following three qualitative thresholds
(see Leischnig and Woodside, 2017): the threshold for full mem-
bership, which equals 1; the threshold for full nonmembership,
which equals 0; and the crossover point, which equals 0.5 (Ragin,
2008). Thus, the calibrated scores reflected the varying degrees of
set membership, and scores close to 1 were considered “more in”,
while scores close to 0 were considered “more out” of the set with
the relevant property of interest. The value 0.5 indicated maximum
uncertainty regarding the relative membership of a set.
After following established practices in fsQCA research, the
endpoints of the Likert scales were used as reference points in the
calibration process. The individuals who answered 1 (“strongly
disagree”) were fully out of the set, whereas the participants who
answered 5 (“strongly agree”) were fully in the set. Scores of 3 were
considered to identify the crossover point as the participants who
selected this option neither agreed nor disagreed with the relevant
construct. After indicating these three thresholds, the fs/QCA 2.0
software produced the relevant fuzzy scores. However, the software
generated three scores that exactly matched the crossover point
(0.5). Because these results introduced ambiguity concerning a
case’s membership, these scores needed to be adjusted before the
 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161 5

Table 1
Descriptive statistics and Skewness/Kurtosis.

Variables Mean Standard deviation Skewness Kurtosis

Appreciation of beauty and excellence 3.71 .82 -.35 -.17

Bravery 3.86 .71 -.35 -.19
Citizenship 3.86 .62 -.45 .26
Creativity 3.83 .69 -.30 -.30
Curiosity 3.93 .65 -.61 .64
Fairness 4.23 .55 -.88 1.14
Forgiveness and mercy 3.60 .79 -.44 -.07
Gratitude 4.47 .48 -.22 2.23
Hope 3.74 .72 -.60 .32
Humour 4.32 .53 -.68 .18
Integrity 4.39 .45 -.72 .57
Judgement 4.02 .62 -.48 .02
Kindness 4.22 .51 -.74 1.14
Leadership 4.01 .60 -.50 -.19
Love 4.09 .57 -.95 .86
Love of learning 3.47 .72 .08 -.62
Modesty and humility 3.27 .81 -.16 -.28
Persistence 3.88 .70 -.54 .12
Perspective 3.87 .55 -.25 .04
Prudence 3.65 .75 -.36 -.44
Self-regulation 3.45 .74 -.32 -.15
Social intelligence 4.08 .57 -.48 -.04
Spirituality 3.37 .98 -.33 -.79
Zest 3.80 .68 -.30 -.17
Sustainable consumption 3.04 .75 -.33 .26

analysis. To address this concern, a constant of .001 was added to all
our fuzzy-set membership scores (Leischnig and Woodside, 2017).
4. Results
4.1. MRA results
Table 3 presents the results of the MRA that examines the
impact of the character strengths as the independent variables on
SC. The multicollinearity indices of VIF and Tolerance are well
within the expected thresholds, suggesting that multicollinearity is
not a concern in this regression model (Hair et al., 2011). Seven of
the 24 moral competences have a significant influence on SC. Self-
regulation is the most influential variable, followed by Love of
learning, Appreciation of beauty, Modesty and humility, Kindness,
Leadership, and Perspective/Wisdom. The model explains a reason-
able level of variance in the dependent variable (R2 ¼ 25%; F (26,
806) ¼ 9.47, p < .001).
4.2. fsQCA results
Subsequently, the fsQCA analysis is conducted in two steps
(Schneider and Wagemann, 2010). First, the analysis examined
whether there are variables that are necessary for the outcome of
interest. A condition of necessity indicates that each time the
outcome is present, the antecedent condition is also present
(Schneider and Wagemann, 2010). Table 4 shows the results of the
analysis of necessary conditions.
The consistency values are used to identify whether a condition
is necessary for the outcome. Consistency evaluates how close the
combination is to a perfect subset relation, i.e., a relation in which
the degree of membership in the antecedent condition is lower or
equal to the degree of membership in the outcome (Ragin, 2008).
Typically, a consistency threshold of 0.90 is used to identify the
conditions that can be considered necessary (Schneider and
Wagemann, 2010). Thus, the results suggest that most strengths
examined are necessary for SC (i.e., all students who display the SC
feature are also very likely to display the moral competence). Three
moral competences, namely, Modesty and humility, Spirituality and
Love of learning, are below the threshold. Among these compe-
tences, Love of learning has a consistency score that is only
marginally below the threshold, indicating that this variable can
also be considered necessary for the outcome (Schneider and
Wagemann, 2010).
The coverage indicator offers an idea of how empirically rele-
vant the causal condition is and is akin to the R2 indicator in a
regression analysis (Greckhamer et al., 2013). Essentially, the
coverage indicates how many participants who display the
outcome are also members of the set of the antecedent conditions
(Schneider and Wagemann, 2010). Table 3 shows that the moral
competences tend to be very common among the students who
engage in SC.
Regarding the competences that were below the 0.90 consis-
tency threshold, an analysis of sufficiency is performed to identify
whether combinations of these three competences can explain the
outcome (i.e., they are sufficient to explain the outcome when
combined with other competences but not necessary alone). Before
proceeding with the analysis of sufficiency, fsQCA requires the
construction of a truth table that contains 2k rows, where k denotes
the number of antecedent conditions examined. A truth table was
developed with Modesty and humility, Spirituality and Love of
learning as the antecedent conditions and SC as the outcome.
Before analyzing the data, the truth table needed to be refined
by examining the two criteria of frequency and consistency (Ragin,
2008). Frequency reports the empirical representation of each
combination of antecedent conditions. Typically, it is recom-
mended that at least 80% of the data are represented by the subset
of combinations selected for further analysis. The idea is that the
researcher should exclude combinations with very limited (or no)
empirical representation in the data from the analysis as these
combinations might be due to error rather than representing a
meaningful result. Regarding consistency, the literature recom-
mends a threshold of 75% since perfect subset relations are
extremely rare (Ragin, 2008). The consistency thresholds were
identified by searching for dips in the range of values as suggested
by Schneider and Wagemann (2010). Both the frequency and
 6
Table 2
Correlations.

Variables X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X15 X16 X17 X18 X19 X20 X21 X22 X23 X24 X25 X26 X27

Gender (X1) .16** .01 -.13** .03 -.15** -.02 .11** .08* .09** -.08* .01 .04 .02 .09** .05 .09** .09** .01 .09** .06 -.05 -.03 .03 .12** .04 -.06
Faculty (X2) - .02 .05 .03 .06 .01 .06 .01 -.01 .01 .08* .04 .02 .05 .09** .08* -.05 -.03 -.01 .02 -.06 -.02 .13** .04 .06 -.01

C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161

Appreciation of beauty (X3) - .16** .19** .40** .28** .19** .26** .23** .27** .16** .15** .24** .23** .20** .23** .34** .06 .14** .23** .13** .12** .31** .19** .29** .24**
Bravery (X4) - -.05 .31** .17** -.11** .01 .10** .13** .20** .26** .16** .04 .10** .07 .09** -.28** .09** .22** -.02 .03 .23** .11** .18** .05
Citizenship (X5) - .13** .20** .52** .39** .33** .24** .15** .26** .22** .50** .42** .35** .16** .37** .23** .21** .27** .31** .27** .18** .28** .28**
Creativity (X6) - .37** .13** .16** .17** .25** .29** .25** .26** .19** .24** .14** .27** -.12** .11** .25** .04 .11** .27** .09** .33** .18**
Curiosity (X7) - .17** .20** .30** .34** .26** .17** .26** .21** .21** .19** .34** -.05 .23** .28** .12** .19** .32** .16** .48** .18**
Fairness (X8) - .39** .33** .15** .14** .18** .19** .49** .54** .29** .17** .33** .15** .12** .27** .18** .21** .04 .21** .23**
Forgiveness and mercy (X9) - .26** .28** .16** .14** .13** .37** .33** .28** .10** .18** .08* .17** .18** .11** .19** .19** .26** .18**
Gratitude (X10) - .32** .28** .29** .22** .38** .32** .41** .12** .10** .23** .24** .18** .24** .34** .25** .42** .16**
Hope (X11) - .18** .18** .23** .27** .28** .25** .11** .02 .16** .24** .13** .17** .31** .14** .47** .16**
Humour (X12) - .29** .08* .28** .17** .28** .03 -.09** .02 .16** -.01 -.03 .32** .09* .25** .03
Integrity (X13) - .29** .32** .29** .20** .10** .06 .36** .36** .25** .27** .28** .16** .24** .16**
Judgement (X14) - .21** .21** .15** .20** .03 .33** .49** .44** .38** .40** .14** .22** .14**
Kindness (X15) - .37** .36** .18** .27** .14** .25** .19** .15** .31** .15** .21** .26**
Leadership (X16) - .23** .14** .19** .22** .21** .23** .26** .28** .08* .31** .27**
Love (X17) - .06 .10** .22** .23** .09** .21** .36** .21** .31** .18**
Love of learning (X18) - .01 .20** .20** .11** .14** .09** .10** .28** .23**
Modesty and humility (X19) - .13** .01 .27** .21** -.01 .05 -.03 .22**
Persistence (X20) - .28** .30** .59** .18** .13** .27** .19**
Perspective (X21) - .33** .31** .42** .19** .25** .09**
Prudence (X22) - .46** .20** .06 .12** .16**
Self-regulation (X23) - .22** .14** .28** .30**
Social intelligence (X24) - .14** .35** .13**
Spirituality (X25) - .21** .11**
Zest (X26) - .23**
Sustainable consumption (X27) -

Note: *p < .05; **p < .01. Coefficients in bold indicate a medium or large effect size (i.e., r > 0.30; Cohen, 1988).
 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161 7

Table 3
Multiple regression analysis estimates.

Variables Standard error Beta t Tolerance VIF

Gender .05 -.07* 1.97 .83 1.20

Faculty .03 .00 -.03 .92 1.08
Appreciation of beauty and excellence .03 .11** 2.93 .69 1.45
Bravery .04 .03 .72 .74 1.35
Citizenship .05 .04 1.07 .54 1.86
Creativity .04 .05 1.20 .63 1.59
Curiosity .04 .03 .71 .63 1.58
Fairness .06 -.01 -.23 .49 2.03
Forgiveness and mercy .03 .01 .17 .70 1.42
Gratitude .06 -.04 1.09 .63 1.60
Hope .04 .00 -.11 .68 1.48
Humour .05 -.05 1.46 .72 1.39
Integrity .06 .03 .87 .65 1.54
Judgement .05 -.01 -.34 .58 1.73
Kindness .06 .11** 2.79 .56 1.77
Leadership .05 .11** 2.73 .59 1.69
Love .04 .04 1.12 .67 1.49
Love of learning .04 .12** 3.24 .73 1.37
Modesty and humility .03 .12** 3.31 .68 1.47
Persistence .04 -.04 1.00 .56 1.80
Perspective .05 .09* 2.40 .62 1.63
Prudence .04 -.04 -.90 .61 1.63
Self-regulation .04 .23** 5.31 .50 1.98
Social intelligence .05 -.02 -.53 .59 1.68
Spirituality .03 .02 .57 .85 1.18
Zest .05 .06 1.41 .55 1.83

Note: *p < .05; **p < .01. Variables in bold have a statistically significant effect.

Table 4 Table 5
Analysis of necessary conditions. Analysis of causal combinations.

Condition Consistency Coverage Sustainable consumption

Integrity .99 .59 1 2 3

Gratitude .99 .58
Love of learning
Kindness .99 .61
Fairness .99 .61
Humour .98 .60 Modesty and humility C C
Social intelligence .97 .63 Spirituality
Leadership .97 .64
Judgement .97 .64 Raw coverage .41 .52 .51
Citizenship .96 .67 Unique coverage .02 .13 .12
Curiosity .96 .65 Consistency .85 .85 .84
Perspective .96 .66 Solution coverage .66
Persistence .95 .66 Solution consistency .81
Creativity .95 .67
Love .95 .67 Notes: C indicates the presence of a core condition, indicates the absence of a
Bravery .94 .66
Hope .93 .67 core condition and indicates the absence of a peripheral condition. Analysis
Appreciation of beauty and excellence .92 .69 thresholds for sustainable consumption: frequency ¼ 40 (95% of the cases),
Prudence .91 .69 consistency ¼ .88.
Forgiveness and mercy .90 .70
Zest .90 .70
Self-regulation .90 .73
Love of learning .89 .73
The relative importance of a solution can be assessed through
Modesty and humility .83 .74 coverage indicators, which represent the percentage of cases in
Spirituality .81 .70 which the outcome is reached through a proposed pathway (Fiss,
2011; Ragin, 2008). There are two types of coverage measures to
consider, specifically raw coverage and unique coverage. Raw
consistency thresholds employed are reported in Table 4, which coverage assesses the extent to which the outcome set is explained
also presents the details of the analysis. by the antecedent set. Unique coverage excludes any overlap be-
The software reports three types of solutions, namely, complex, tween configurations by further partitioning the raw coverage to
parsimonious and intermediate. To summarize the different out- identify the share of the outcome set that is explained by only one
puts, scholars focus on the intermediate and parsimonious solu- configuration.
tions and differentiate between the core conditions, which are Table 5 shows that of the three competences that are not
present in both solutions, and the peripheral conditions, which are necessary, Humility explains the outcome in a subgroup of students
present only in the intermediate solution (Fiss, 2011). The core in the following two combinations: 1) with the negation of Love of
conditions are essential for the outcome, while the peripheral learning 2) and with the negation of Spirituality. There is also a small
conditions are less important and reinforce the key characteristics subset of participants for whom SC is explained by the absence of
of the core conditions (Fiss, 2011). Love of learning and the absence of Spirituality. However, this
combination has a very low unique coverage, indicating that it is
8 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161
specific to a very small group of students (Ragin, 2008).
4.3. Integrating the MRA and fsQCA results
MRA examines the relationships across the entire sample, while
fsQCA groups individual cases that present a certain causal
configuration (Fiss, 2011; Greckhamer et al., 2013). Several inter-
esting insights emerge from the integration of the results. First, a
few moral competences show a significant relationship with SC. All
strengths also emerge as necessary in the fsQCA analysis, rein-
forcing their importance. One exception is Modesty and humility,
which is associated with SC in only a large subgroup or profile of
students (approximately 40%). This finding suggests that rather
than operating across the entire sample, Modesty and humility is
significant because of its relationship with SC in a large subgroup of
students. Thus, the following two different profiles of participants
appear to be present: those for which Modesty and humility is
associated with SC and those for which these two variables are not
correlated.
Second, several competences not associated with SC in the MRA
appear to be necessary according to the fsQCA analysis. Considering
the intercorrelations among the moral competences, this evidence
suggests that these competences have indirect effects on SC. This
result suggests that rather than directly influencing SC, other var-
iables mediate the relationship between these moral competences
and SC.
Third, most students who engage in SC tend to display a
repertoire of moral competences. This finding reinforces the
observation that moral competences are linked to SC. Since only 95
participants have a fuzzy set score of SC above 0.80 [2] (indicating a
very high probability of displaying this feature), the fact that these
same participants also tend to belong to the set of the most moral
competences examined suggests a specific psychological profile.
5. Discussion
5.1. Theoretical implications
This paper shows that moral competences are associated with
the adoption of SCThe regression analysis identifies seven moral
competences linked to SC, namely, Self-regulation, Love of learning,
Appreciation of beauty, Kindness, Humility and modesty, Leadership,
and Perspective. Although Self-regulation (Song and Kim, 2018),
Love of Learning (Luchs and Mooradian, 2012) and Kindness (Luchs
and Mooradian, 2012; Song and Kim, 2018) have received some
attention in earlier research, albeit measured differently, the
remaining four moral competences are identified for the first time
as significantly associated with SC. Love of learning has not been
previously measured in past research, but related constructs (e.g.,
Openness as a personality trait or Openness to experience as a value)
have been associated with SC in student and community samples
(Luchs and Mooradian, 2012; Song and Kim, 2018). Similarly, the
personality trait of Agreeableness and Benevolent and Altruistic
values, which are related to the moral competence of Kindness, have
been found to be correlated with SC (Luchs and Mooradian, 2012;
Song and Kim, 2018). Appreciation for beauty may arguably facili-
tate ego decentering and intrinsic motivation (Peterson and
Seligman, 2004; Brown and Kasser, 2005; Franquesa et al., 2017),
which are proven antecedents of SC. Additionally, the possession of
this competence may be linked to a disposition toward nature
conservation (Corral-Verdugo et al., 2015). Modesty is a moral
competence that entails an accurate representation of one’s ca-
pacities, a low focus on the self and appreciation of the value of all
things (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). Thus, this competence may
also facilitate ego decentering (Franquesa et al., 2017). Modesty may
facilitate simplicity or a reduction in consumption as this compe-
tence sways individuals from conspicuous and status-seeking
consumption (Brown and Kasser, 2005). Leadership is defined as
“an orientation toward influencing and helping others, directing
and motivating their actions toward collective success” (Peterson
and Seligman, 2004, 414). The possession of this moral compe-
tence may be associated with environmental activism (Corral-
Verdugo et al., 2015). Perspective has been defined differently
across philosophical traditions. Peterson and Seligman (2004)
emphasized that Perspective does not imply “erudition” but
rather “knowledge about the meaning of life (what really matters)
and how to plan and manage a meaningful life” (185). This moral
competence may be associated with intrinsic motivation (Brown
and Kasser, 2005).
The fsQCA analysis shows that all moral competences, except for
two, are displayed by more than 50% of the participants who
engage in SC. This evidence supports the idea of the unity of moral
competences (Sison and Ferrero, 2015) and suggests that to
encourage the adoption of SC among students, their moral char-
acter should be enhanced in a holistic way.
The dual analysis strategy used in this study also helps explain
why past research presents inconsistent results regarding the po-
tential relationship between some moral competences and SC,
which is especially the case with Spirituality (Barrera-Herna ndez
et al., 2018). In fact, the absence of this strength in combination
with other factors is associated with SC among some groups of
students but not all students (see Table 5). Consequently, studies
using exclusively linear techniques to assess the relationship be-
tween this variable and sustainability-related outcomes are likely
to find it difficult to obtain significant results (i.e., the relationship
might depend on the specific subgroups sampled).
5.2. Practical implications
Examining the association between moral competences and SC
may contribute to the challenge of teaching and learning SC to
enable learners’ personal and social transformation (Lambrechts
et al., 2013; Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018)The identification of a set
of moral competences highly associated with SC provides clearer
guidelines for educators establishing learning goals. The VIA-IS
instrument is a measurable framework useful for self- or other-
assessment and the monitoring of moral competences. As sug-
gested by other authors (Adombent et al., 2014; Barth and
Rieckmann, 2016), providing operationalizable frameworks for
learning objectives may facilitate the inclusion of moral compe-
tences in curricula.
However, developing moral competences is not a quick fix and
poses pedagogical challenges. As moral competences involve not
only cognition but also motivation and action, their development
demands experiential learning methods, including learning tools
oriented toward action, participation, and collaboration
(Lambrechts et al., 2013). For instance, since service-learning and
community-based programs involve learners’ cooperation for the
well-being of communities and desires of good for other people
(Adombent et al., 2014), these programs might help nurture char-
acter strengths, such as Kindness, Perspective, or Leadership. The use
of techniques, such as role-playing, debates, arts, and theatre, in the
classroom also promotes students’ engagement with learning
while potentially expanding their awareness of different world-
views and their understanding from diverse perspectives (Mintz,
1996; Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018). Thus, these approaches may
help increase Appreciation of Beauty, Perspective and Love of Learning
in participants. Additionally, pedagogies targeting critical reflex-
ivity and self-awareness have been shown to develop moral
awareness (Waddock, 2010; Crossan et al., 2013). For example, the
 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161
introduction of meditation practices and learning diaries may
contribute to the enhancement of strengths of character, such as
Perspective, Self-regulation and Humility, as these practices arguably
help learners distance themselves from their own assumptions.
In addition, experiential and critically reflexive approaches to
Education for SC could contribute by making the situational facet of
moral competences more explicit to students. As argued by Cohen
and Morse (2014), personal and situational factors work in
conjunction and reciprocally to produce behavior. Therefore, the
use of the VIA-IS framework to articulate the development of moral
competences in learners is especially relevant in the field of SC in
which choices are made in complex and changing circumstances
and, thus, are not easily amenable to a universal set of rules
(Sahakian and Seyfang, 2018).
A second implication of this study is that the proposed VIA
framework may potentially overcome the resistance of educators to
introduce moral elements in the classroom. Even though a renewed
interest in teaching character and virtues in schools has emerged
over the last decade (Jeynes, 2019; Sanderse, 2019), many teachers
report that moral character education should not be a part of the
curriculum either because they defend the neutrality of education
or they lack the time and training required to educate moral
character (Jeynes, 2019). In higher education, the institutionalized
moral muteness of faculty and the failure of faculty to express
moral considerations in their role as teachers (Chung, 2016) are
strong barriers to the development of moral competences among
learners. However, nurturing character strengths implies devel-
oping the good in humans and acquiring resources to lead a happier
life (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). Thus, the view of moral edu-
cation on which the Values in Action is grounded may be consid-
ered less conflictual since it does not imply “imposing” prescriptive
rules. Moreover, because evidence suggests that character
strengths are morally valued in different countries (Park et al.,
2006) and the way character strengths are translated into
behavior is sensitive to the context as mentioned above, their
adoption in different cultural settings may be easier.
5.3. Future research lines
Once the relationship between moral competences and SC is
established, future work could examine how these moral compe-
tences are developed, which combination of teaching methods is
more suitable to develop each moral competence identified
through their multiple facets, and why individuals differ in their
degree of acquisition of moral competences while paying special
attention to sex-based differences. Importantly, it could be inter-
esting to conduct longitudinal studies to assess the ability of
different interventions to develop students’ moral character,
especially the character more predictive of SC. Such studies could
be important for proceeding to the next step of the following
exciting research agenda: from the identification of moral compe-
tences as predictors of SC to the testing and refining of teaching
strategies that can help produce this learning outcome.
Additionally, the discussion of the regression results suggests
that the highly predictive strengths share the following common
feature: these strengths may facilitate ego decentering, which, in
turn, has been found to be a predictor of SC (Franquesa et al., 2017).
Future studies could examine whether ego decentering mediates
the relationship between moral competences and SC. The results of
the fsQCA analysis suggest that the 18 character strengths that were
not found to be significant in the regression model may nonethe-
less play a part in the adoption of SC likely because these variables
have an indirect effect on SC by enabling individuals to develop
more proximal causes of SC. Accordingly, it is suggested that more
complex mediating mechanisms (Hayes, 2018) might be theorized
9
such that some strengths are directly linked to SC, while other
strengths cause SC indirectly by influencing the strengths that are
more immediately connected to behavior.
5.4. Limitations of the study
This paper also presents several limitations. First, this study
adopted a correlational design, which prevents from establishing
causal relationships. Further work could better conceptualize and
test the causal mechanisms by which moral competences facilitate
SC. Notably, future work could explore whether a reciprocal rela-
tionship exist between moral competences and SC. Since moral
competences are developed by practice and reflection (Peterson
and Seligman, 2004), it is plausible that the practice of SC facili-
tates the development of moral competences, creating a virtuous
cycle. Second, the moral competences were operationalized
through the VIA-IS framework because of its comprehensiveness
and demonstrated psychometric features. Future studies could
triangulate the findings by using other empirical measures of
competences to determine whether the results are robust across
operationalizations. Third, a main limitation of this study is the
sampling approach, which although inexpensive and time-
efficient, hinders generalizability. To increase ecological validity,
similar studies should be conducted in other universities/schools
and different cultural settings.
6. Conclusion
Our study is based on the premise that the development of
moral competences, while crucial to the field of Education for SC,
has been under examined. The multifaceted and multidimensional
nature of moral competences poses a challenge to their develop-
ment and monitoring in educational settings. To address this
challenge, this paper offers a comprehensive conceptualization and
a measurable systematization of moral competences through the
VIA-IS framework. By answering our research questions, this paper
empirically shows that a wide set of moral competences is associ-
ated with the adoption of SC and identifies a smaller subset of
competences, i.e., Self-regulation, Love of learning, Kindness, Appre-
ciation of beauty, Humility and Modesty, Leadership, and Perspective,
that act as direct covariates of SC.
This study contributes to two different literature streams. First,
this study contributes to the literature related to SC by unveiling
other correlates of SC not previously mentioned in the literature
(notably, Appreciation of Beauty, Humility and Modesty, Leadership
and Perspective). Second, this study contributes to the literature
related to Education for Sustainability and, more specifically, Edu-
cation for SC, by providing educators with a theory-grounded,
empirically tested instrument. This instrument could aid SC edu-
cators in establishing moral competences as learning objectives
and monitoring students’ development.
Endnotes
[1] The full instrument is available online https://www.
authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires/survey-
character-strengths.
[2] For comparison, 433 students have a fuzzy set score below
0.50, indicating a lower likelihood of being in the set for SC.
Funding
This study was funded by Aristos Campus Mundus (grant
number ACM2017_10).
10 C. Valor et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 248 (2020) 119161
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This research was conducted thanks to a grant by Aristos
Campus Mundus (ACM2017_10). We are most grateful to Isabel
Carrero and other members of faculty at Universidad Pontificia
Comillas for their help in data collection. The authors would also
like to thank Dr. Alexander Leischnig and Professor Stephan Hen-
neberg for their help with data analysis.
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