Pasca García, LauraMoreno Gata, Sofía2026-04-132026-04-132026-04-09Pasca, L., & Moreno-Gata, S. (2026). Not All Green Behaviors Are Equal: Efficiency Practices Reduce Moral Licensing While Curtailment Practices Increase It. Ecopsychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/1942934726144108310.1177/19429347261441083https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134663Not all pro-environmental behaviors are equally effective in fostering sustainable habits. Psychological mechanisms, such as moral licensing, can paradoxically reduce the positive impact of well-intentioned actions. In this pre-registered quasi-experimental study (N = 514), we examined how curtailment behaviors (e.g., recycling) and efficiency behaviors (e.g., adopting a vegan/vegetarian diet) differently influence moral credentials and subsequent pro-environmental actions. Results showed that salient curtailment behaviors lowered guilt and perceived environmental impact after unsustainable actions, creating a potential licensing effect, whereas efficiency behaviors mitigated this effect and promoted further sustainable behavior. Crucially, feelings of guilt and perceived environmental impact predicted later pro-environmental engagement. These findings highlight that encouraging high-impact efficiency behaviors may prevent moral licensing and support more consistent sustainable choices, offering actionable insights for interventions aimed at fostering lasting environmental behavior change.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1177/19429347261441083open access159.922.2Moral licensingMoral credentialsPro-environmental behaviorEnvironmental impactGuiltPsicología ambiental6114 Psicología Social