The history of environmental psychology on preventing climate change.
Introduction
Environmental psychology contributes research into how we can change our behaviours individually, and potentially globally, to become more environmentally friendly and subsequently reduce our carbon footprints. It achieves this with research into the way humans interact with their surrounding environment (environmental behaviour), their attitudes toward the environment (environmental attitude), the amount of information they hold concerning the environment (environmental knowledge), and their ability to understand their actions impact on the environment. Understanding how these concepts interact with each other can help environmental psychologist predict and change people’s behaviours towards the environment.
Predicting behaviours
One theory used to predict pro-environmental behaviour is the theory of planned behaviour, proposed by Ajzen[i]. In the context of environment, the theory of planned behaviour attempts to predict an individual’s environmental behaviour by comparing their attitude towards pro-environmental behaviour and the individual’s belief that being pro-environmental will have a positive or negative affect on their life. For example, before an individual chooses to put their bottle in the recycling bin,
they they will think about the consequences that may come with recycling and not recycling the bottle before making their choice.
This prediction is also affected by subjective norms (the surrounding social influences effecting the individual’s choice). For example, the individual’s social network, cultural norms, or group beliefs, and how others will perceive you. And the individuals perceived behavioural control (the individual’s belief on how hard or easy the behaviour will be too carry out). For example, if the recycling bin is further away from the individual than the general waste bin, the individual may choose to not recycle because the perceived behaviour control shows that the general waste bin will be easier to access. However, predicting the behaviours of humans alone is not an efficient way of reducing climate change, therefore, more interactive approaches are studied.
A way environmental psychologist believed we can cause a change in people’s environmental attitudes and knowledge is through teaching societies about the environment. One example on how the environmental education of societies can be improved is by incorporating more pro-environmental content into school criteria’s, increasing the environmental knowledge within the younger generations and influencing them to obtain a more pro-environmental attitude from a young age. However, fliegenschnee and schelansky (1998) found that 80% of motivation for environmental behaviour is influenced by subjective norms and other internal factors[ii].
Alternatively, public advertisement in heavily populated area’s such as train stations, bus stops, shopping centres and workplaces through the medium of posters and billboards could act as a reminder to people to behaviour pro-environmentally during their daily routines.
What is preventing pro-environmental behaviour?
Kollmuss and Agyeman’s (2002) definition of pro-environmental behaviour is ‘behaviour that consciously seeks to minimize the negative impact of one’s actions on the natural and built world’ and their model of pro-environmental behaviour, proposed by Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002), is an example of a model that shows that increased environmental knowledge does not directly correlate to an increased pro-environmental behaviour[iii].
Within their research into pro-environmental behaviour, they show that there are barriers to pro-environmental behaviour. These barriers include things such as, pre-existing patterns in behaviour, lack of feedback or negative feedback on the behaviour, and lack of internal motivation [iv]. Therefore, Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002) shows that using environmental education to prevent climate change and reduce our carbon footprints does not provide significant results, and other methods must be studied.
Research has found that a reason for human’s low concern for climate change is because the effects of climate change are gradual and pose no immediate risks[v]. The slow-moving pace of climate change, next to the diary of a busy individuals daily routine is consequently not prioritised. In order to cause behaviour change within individuals, campaigns and advertisements should therefore appeal to relatives[vi]. This is called Kin selection theory, or inclusive fitness theory[vii].
By presenting climate change as a global issue that will affect the future generations of an individual, it presumed that climate change will be having a larger impact on humans because of humans’ biological instincts to protect their offspring and territory. In turn, advertisements should therefore appeal to the audience using reference to family titles in order to increase the pro-environmental behaviour of the individual. _____________________________________________________________________________
[i] Icek Ajzen (2011) The theory of planned behaviour: Reactions and reflections, Psychology & Health
[ii] Zsuzsanna M. Szerenyi, Agnes Zsoka & Anna Szechy (2009) Environmental education and pro-environmental consumer behaviour- results of a university survey. Research Gate
[iii] Anja Kollmuss & Julian Agyeman (2002) Mind the Gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?, Environmental Education Research
[iv] Anja Kollmuss & Julian Agyeman (2002) Mind the Gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?, Environmental Education Research
[v] Elke U. Weber (2006). Evidence-based and description-based perceptions of long-term risk: Why global warming does not scare us (yet). Climatic Change
[vi] Mark V. Vugt, Vladas Griskevicius & P. Wesley Schultz (2014). Naturally green: Harnessing stone age psychological biases to foster environmental behavior. Social Issues and Policy Review
[vii] Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behavior, I, II. Journal of Theoretical Biology
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