07.04.2014
1
Understanding proenvironmental
behaviour I
Spring 2014
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 1
Premises for the role of psychology in
addressing anthropogenic global
environmental change
Human behaviour is the major cause of
the problems – human behaviou is also
the solution
◦ Psychology is the study of human behaviour
◦ Focus on behaviours that affect environmental
problems through each individual’s behaviour
Technological solutions are not likely to
provide a sufficient basis for action within
a short enough time span.
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 2
Main themes
The ecological self: A model of the self
promoting a more caring attitude towards
our surroundings
The moral circle
When environmental problems are
behavioural problems
◦ Problems, Driving Forces, and Research Topics.
The tragedy of the commons, social
dilemmas, resource dilemmas:A psychological
approach
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 3
THE ECOLOGICAL SELF:
A PSYCHOLOGICAL/ECOPHILOSOPHICAL
INTRODUCTORY PERSPECTIVE ON
ANTHROPOGENIC
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 4
07.04.2014
2
Model of the self in mainstream
psychology
A self with a strong sense of being something else
than or apart from the surroundings
The sense of a separate self: proof of having
reached maturity inWestern culture
Harmful environmental change appears to be
made possible by this view of the self:
◦ A need for models of the human psyche promoting a
more caring attitude towards our surroundings.
◦ The core concept of this model is the ecological self,
proposed by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 5
Historical changes in views of the
human-nature relation
Mythical age: nature and humans experienced
as one single unit
Antiquity: two-sided view of nature - inner,
actively creative vs. outer, passive
Medieval age: the natural world as a principle
counteracting the true and real world of ideas
After the Renaissance: nature as an object of
human domination and control, as dead matter,
thing, object
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 6
Modes of environmental experience
• The environment experienced as external,
physical location
• The environment experienced as social
system
• The environment experienced as
emotional territory
• The environment experienced as a setting
for action
• The environment experienced as self
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 7
The environment as self:
The ecological self
Environments can be experienced as
integrated parts of self-identity through a
process of identification
The self as broad, field-like or expansive as
whatever the person identifies with.
Consequence:one will naturally (i.e.,
spontaneously) protect the natural
(spontaneous) unfolding of this expansive
self (i.e. the ecosphere,the cosmos)
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 8
07.04.2014
3
Some possible characteristics of the ecological
self
The ecological self can be defined as whatever the
individual identifies with.
Identification is understood as the experience of
similarity and commonality (but not identity) with a unit.
Expansion of the sense of self is seen as a process of
development through identification, disidentification,
transcendence and integration.
Identification with specific physical environments
constitutes a part of self-identity.
Psychological bonds to specific environments are both
emotional and cognitive in character, and can transcend
the relation to one specific, circumscribed environment.
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 9
More characteristics of the ecological self
Experiences resulting in identification with environments
may be direct, or indirect (vicarious)
Environmental sense of self may be related to specific
value priorities and behavioral tendencies.
Cognitions based upon direct or vicarious environmental
experiences may develop into generalized environmental
beliefs and representations.
A threat towards an environment that is experienced as
part of one's identity, may be perceived as a threat
towards self and self-identity.
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 10
Human Behavior and
Environmental Sustainability:
Problems, Driving Forces, and
Research Topics.
(See: Vlek & Steg, 2007)
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 11
Main points
Global trends: environmental quality and resource use
Five broad driving forces of global environmental
change: population, prosperity, technology, institutions, and
culture; these forces are seen in the light of critical
transformations during the evolution of human societies
By means of a four phase model approach to resource
dilemmas, a number of themes for research on and
political support of sustainable development at different
scales are described
Discussion of multidisciplinary cooperation and desired
developments within environmental psychology
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 12
07.04.2014
4
“Sustainable development”
Since 1987: includes economic, social and
environmental dimensions of our
common future (WCED, 1987)
Here: focus on environmental
sustainability and relations to quality of
life
positive and negative qualities of living
environments
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 13
Environmental sustainability as a
social problem
Environmental status
◦ In general, the world has become more aware
of the need for renewable energy resources
◦ Still, we can observe a clear quantitative and
qualitative reduction of environmental
resources
◦ A number of environmental problems are,
basically, social and behavioural problems
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 14
The state of the environment
Many of the problems are already solved:
◦ Lead is removed from fuel
◦ DDT is removed from pesticides
◦ Asbestos is removed from building materials
◦ Hazardous waste is treated more responsibly
◦ There is a common understanding of the need
for renewable energy
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 15
The state of the environment
Much left to do
◦ Population growth results in intensified material
consumption and thus quantitative and qualitative
deterioration of environmental resources
◦ Reasons to worry
Fragmentation of the natural environment
Loss of biodiversity
Lack of freshwater
Overfishing
Global warming
Extreme weather
Urban air pollution,
Noise
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 16
07.04.2014
5
The state of the environment
Less industrialized regions: Poverty
degrades both people and environment
◦ Deforestation
◦ Lack of drinking water
◦ Floods in coastal areas
◦ Serious air pollution in the cities
◦ The wild animals of Africa will be extinguished
outside of national parks
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 17
The state of the environment
A large number of the problems are in a
fundamental sense social and environmental
problems
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005)
◦ During the last 50 years human activity has altered vital
ecosystem services faster and more comprehensively than
during any other comparable historical period
◦ Effective measures to ensure sustainable resource
management will demand considerable change in
institutions and regulations, economic policies and
incentives, social and behavioural factors, technology and
knowledge
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 18
The evolution of environmental
resource use
Steadily increasing population, consumption and
technological strength are overshadowing
environmental innovations
Increasing consumption is particularly related to
the incresing use of motorized vehicles for
transportation of passengers and goods since
WWII.
Travelling is the primary cause of growth in
carbon emissions in rich industrial countries:
Life style changes driven by increasing income
levels – particularly increased “automobility”
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 19
Driving forces of society behind
environmental deterioration
Ehrlic & Holdren (1971):Total environmental
resource use is a multiplicative function of
population,consumption and technology:
◦ Impact = P (population) x A (average Affluence:
consumption per person) x T (average resource
intensity for Technology applied per production
unit)
Other important forces:
◦ Institutions: the organisation of society supports
these processes
◦ Culture: general values, norms and beliefs
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 20
07.04.2014
6
Driving forces of society behind environmental
deterioration
Takács – Santa (2004): long term trends in the
evolution of human societies
◦ Clearing of more and more vegetation for buildng
purposes
◦ Increased separation of human societies and the
natural environment
◦ Development of technological efficiency and capasity
◦ Intensified use of raw materials and fossile energy
sources
◦ Proliferation of transport infrastructure and vehicles
◦ In addition: Mass motorisation and the computer
revolution
However:The total effect of human activities
may be reduced via a consistent policy to
change the driving forces described above
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 21
Driving force 1: Population
Assumed to increase to 9 billion about
2050
Population control is an obvious means to
prevent increased poverty and reduce
environmental problems
Experts believe that higher living standard
leads to reduced population growth –
social psychological theory may
contribute here
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 22
Driving force 2:Affluence
In affluent countries increased consumption is due to a
gradual transition from satisfaction of basic needs to
satisfaction of endless temptations (”luxury fever”):
household equipment, exotic travels, SUV’s retc
There is a need for considerable changes in consumer
behaviour, production and distribution of gods and
services and people’s ability to fulfill their needs and
values in a sustainable way through non-material
measures of quality of life
Most consumers are locked into social structures and
processes resulting in environmentally harmful
cmsumption patterns: Psychological changes are
necessary
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 23
Driving force 3:Technology
There is a great potential for more
efficient materials, energy saving, waste
reduction
The benefit from environment-friendly
technologies depends mainly on how they
are used
◦ The rebound-effect: the degree to which
increased demand for a product is exceeding
the increase in production efficiency per enhet
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 24
07.04.2014
7
Driving force 4: Institutions
In industrialized countries the transition to a
sustainable society depends upon major
changes in fundamental beliefs about welfare,
quality of life and related political goals
We need an economy providing better
quality of life independent of resource
consumption
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 25
Driving force 5: Culture
A prominent feature of human societies is
environmental short-sightedness both in a
physical and social sense
Sustainabel development requires:
◦ A long term perspective
◦ A more collectivistic culture
◦ Environmental awareness and environmental
responsibility
◦ Understanding that humans are parts of nature
◦ Understanding that non-human nature is of crucial
economic and social importance
Considerable psychological and sociological
changes are necessary
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 26
Managing our common
resources
A psychological perspective on commons dilemmas
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 27
Commons dilemmas
◦ A social situation in which a collective risk or cost
is generated via the combined negative
eksternalities from many individuals acting
independently
◦ The external effects of many individually optimal
(”rational”) decisions may in combination lead to
a suboptimal (”irrational”) result that no-one
really wants
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 28
07.04.2014
8
Factors in individual use of natural
resources including refined products
◦ Rate: can normally be quantified
Ex.: water consumption
◦ Quality
Can water consumption be defended?
◦ Who manages ?
Society/macro level
Individual/micro level
Psychologically interesting: From microlevel upwards
29Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Resource management at the micro
level
Individuals monitor own consumption,
observe effects, and are aware of the
consumption of others
Important: management at the micro level
sums up to the macro level
30Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Resource management and sustainability
as a commons dilemma
The commons are established on the
assumption that the supply of this resource can
meet the demands of the community
Earlier one did not realise that the commons
were limited, so unlimited exploitation was
allowed
”The invisible hand” would make sure that the
entire society would benefit from free
exploitation
31Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Hardin (1968):The tragedy of the commons
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243
”Each man is locked into a system that compels
him to increase his herd without limit – in a
world that is limited. Ruin is the destination
towards which all men rush, each pursuing his
own best interest”
The commons is any desirable resource held jointly by a
group of individuals
Althoug we know that natural resources are about to be
depleted,exploitation of them is in fact increasing
Hardin:The only solution is to put an end to the freedom
of the commons and agree upon the introduction of
mutual coercion, i.e. laws and regulations
32Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
9
Local management of the commons:
Two success stories
The mountain villageTörbel, Switzerland
◦ Successful common management of forest and
pastures with regulations going back to 1483
Lobster fisheries in Maine, USA
◦ State government decided restrictions on size
and sex of the lobster
◦ Informal control: Fishermen were given specific
territories
33Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Community management
Self - organised
Resource users develop their own management
rules, accept these rules voluntarily, and may
alter them collectively
The rules become shared social norms that
people follow because they believe in them
(internalisation)
Little need for external control or coercion
Transferability/generalisation: Limited to small
scale conditions
34Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Community managment
Group needs have priority over narrow
self interest without depleting the
resources and without coercion
Independent of information and attitude
campaigns
Does not require deep religious or moral
commitment
35Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Self-interest and the public interest
Commons dilemma
◦ The choice between acting in self-interest and in
the public interest.
◦ Environmental psychologists: Under which
conditions do individuals act in self-interest?
36Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
10
Commons dilemma
Overuse of natural resources as a result
of a conflict between individual and
group interests
When the natural resource is extracted
faster than it’s renewal
37Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Social trap
Temporal trap. Caused by the fact that
individuals or societies give in to
immediate rewards that has built-in and
gradual costs becoming very large over
time
◦ Ex.: Smoking, the use of DDT
38Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Social dilemma (Dawes)
Includes the commons dilemma, social
traps and the prisoner’s dilemma
Central features
◦ Each participant profits more from acting in
self-interest than in the public interest
◦ Participants as a group benefit more if all act
in the public interest than if they all choose to
defect (act in self-interest)
39Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Research strategies
Field experiments
◦ Very difficult to control the resource and the
situation
Field studies
◦ Lack of control: Difficult to know which
explanation is the right one
40Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
11
Simulations as research strategy
• Defection versus cooperation - 3 alternative
situations that can be studied in simulations
1. If one participant acts in self-interest (defects)
while all others act in the public interest
(cooperate) the defector will have the highest
payoff
2. If everyone cooperates, everyone will receive a
higher payoff than if everyone defects
3. If everyone defects the commons will be destroyed
41Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Simulations :Are they realistic?
Not enough knowledge
Some observations indicate reasonable
validity
42Psychol persp on people and env 2014
What influences sustainability-related
behaviour such as resource management?
Four categories of influences
◦ The resource: Is it important, almost depleted or
relatively plentiful?
◦ The participants as individuals:Age, experience,value
orientation etc
◦ The participants as group members: Number, mutual
trust, do they know each other?
◦ The structure of the dilemma: Relative payoff for
cooperation versus self-interest,is it possible to
communicate, are choices made public, are they
informed about the nature of social dilemmas, are
there leaders or not…
43Psychol persp on people and env 2014
The natural resource management
process
44
Outcome
•Extinction
•Sustain-
ability
The structure
of the dilemma
•Payoff
•Rules
•Communication
Cognitive processes
during harvesting
•Fear
•Ignorance
etc
The resource:
•Value
•Degree of depletion
Participants :
•Experience
•Cooperative ?
The group:
•Number
•Trust?
•Friendship? Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
12
Simulations of resource
dilemmas
Some general findings (see for example Gifford
(2007), or Gardner & Stern (2003))
Psychol persp on people and env 2014 45
The resource
Must be desirable, not depleted
Size of resource
◦ Uncertainty about size influences harvesting
Cooperation decreases with importance of resource
◦ When the resource becomes very important (fresh air during a cinema
fire)
◦ Not when payoff for cooperation/punishment for defection is large
◦ Cooperation increases in half-polluted commons
How fasts the resource is depleted
◦ Slow depletion leads to increased exploitation
◦ With little trust, harvesting was about the same regardless of how fast
the resource disappeared, with more trust harvsting was higher at slow
depletion
Plentiful resource
◦ Harvesting more
46Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Participants : Individual characteristics
Age
◦ Up to age 16 there is an increased comprehension of the
value of cooperation, after this cooperation depends upon
other factors
Gender
◦ Not clear results, although women probably are raised to
cooperate more
Personality
◦ Tre types:Those who always cooperate, those who always
refuse to cooperate and those between the two extremes
◦ 1/nth personality – the tendency to cooperate or choose
strategies for the common good
High 1/nth personality females cooperated more
47Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Participants : Individual characteristics
Social values
◦ Cooperativeness (”maximize mine and your profit”)
Moderat harvesting from the resource
◦ Competitiveness (” maximize my profit relative to
yours”)
◦ Individualism (”I maximize my profit and does not
care about yours”)
◦ Altruism (”maximize your profit relative to mine”)
◦ Murder-suicide (”minimize mine and your profit”)
48Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
13
Participants : Individual characteristics
Experience and knowledge
◦ Better understanding of commons dilemma
results in more cooperation
◦ Earlier experience with one-person resource
management had a larger effect than group
experiences
49Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Participants: Group characteristics
Conformity
◦ Doing as the others : playing safe
◦ Anti-conformist behaviour may lead to resource protection: When
one person took a loss others conserved more
The number of harvesters
◦ Self-interest increases with group size, because
The harm from single defectors is diluted
Defection becomes less visible
The effect of the harm done is less visible to the defector
Negative feedback to the defector is difficult to sustain in a large group
Friendship
◦ Friends know each other’s needs, they share experiences of giving and
taking, they wish to continue their friendship – so they cooperate!
50Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Participants: Group characteristics
Trust: Generally a weak effect, but works
through other factors
◦ Trust leads to more cooperation only in small groups
and when knowing how much others cooperate
Sense of community
◦ Easily created
Equality and reputation
◦ Conformity – ”if others do it, I will, too”
◦ Reputation as a cooperator may get others to
cooperate
51Psychol persp on people and env 2014
The structure of the dilemma
Reward and punishment
◦ Cooperation increases with higher economic
payoff or with punishment for defection
◦ The complexity of the dilemma may lead to
egoistic behaviour – one gives up trying to
understand the rules!
52Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
14
The structure of the dilemma
Communication: Leads usually to better management and
serves a number of functions
Clarifying payoffs
Reaching agreement on harvesting
Reduces distrust
Promotes group identity
Promotes public commitment to cooperation
Penalties for not following agreements
Promotes promises to cooperate
53Psychol persp on people and env 2014
The structure of the dilemma
Public disclosure
◦ Knowing what others do increases
cooperation and trust
Resource partitioning
◦ Eks.: Groups get responsibility for a
certain territory
Governance: structural solutions
◦ Popular when the resource has been
overused
54Psychol persp on people and env 2014
The commons dilemma: Solutions?
Dictatorship?
Ecological Utopia governed by the
principles of behavioural psychology?
Laws that impose cooperation in the
commons?
A decentralised society based on friendship,
trust and communication?
55Psychol persp on people and env 2014
Recommendations (Gifford, 2007)
The management of a part of the resource
should be given to each participant
Trust and friendship must be supported
The total amount of participants should be
kept at a low level
Participants must be encouraged to
communicate,make choices openly, and
egoistic decisions should be punished
56Psychol persp on people and env 2014
07.04.2014
15
Future perspectives:
Psychology in an Age of Ecological Crisis
From Personal Angst to Collective Action
(Stokols, Misra, Runnerstrom, and Hipp)
Main points in the paper
About the the recent technological,geophysical,
and societal forces that have fundamentally
altered the structure and functioning of human
environments:
◦ The Internet
◦ Global environmental change
◦ Widening gaps among the have’s and the have not’s
◦ The influence of these conditions on individuals’
cognition, behavior, and well-being.
New questions are raised and conceptual
frameworks proposed
New directions for psychological research and
practice aimed at reducing global threats
Introduction
Negative health impact of the coverage of
global environmental issues in mass media
and in scientific reports:
◦ Leads to daily worries in the lives of people
throughout the world
The paper addresses the roles that
psychological research and practice can play
in
◦ better management of environmental change
(EC)
◦ reducing negative impacts of EC on population
health and societal cohesion.
How individuals perceive,
experience,
and respond to global threats
Psychological processes determine how
global threats influence individuals’ psyche
and behavior
Solutions to global problems depend on
the ways in which individuals and
government leaders perceive these
threats and undertake collective efforts to
resolve them.
07.04.2014
16
Global sources of change in human
environments
The rapid emergence of the Internet and
digital communications technologies over
the past two decades.
◦ Settings have become more polyfunctional:
residential, work, and recreational functions
are now accommodated within the same
environment.
Global sources of change in human
environments
Global shifts toward planetary warming,
environmental pollution,and the
depletion of natural resources.
altering people’s sense of security
Global sources of change in human
environments
The widening disparities among different
socioeconomic,racial, religious,and ethnic
groups.
Environmental injustice,terrorism,and
longstanding struggles among groups with
competing worldviews
increased concerns about personal and
collective safety within a wide range of
environments
These sources of global change are
synergistic
Combined as well as separate influences on
behavior and well-being
◦ Continual exposure to information about these
problems can engender anxiety and passivity
◦ Digital technologies also have been used for
criminal activities
However: Huge constructive potential of the
Internet and wireless communications
◦ May enable people to better understand global
problems and coordinate their efforts to solve
them.
07.04.2014
17
Structural Changes in Behavior
Settings During the Early 21st
Century
Striking features of human environments in the context of
modernity
◦ The rapidity with which they change and the diverse range of
activities carried out by participants in various settings
◦ Increasingly polyfunctional (they combine diverse behavioral
programs)
◦ Both place-based and cyber-based (or virtual) components
The boundaries of many settings extend beyond specific geographical
coordinates to the expanding domain of cyberspace
◦ Hybridization of human environments
residential settings that are wired to enable residents to work at home
on a daily basis
workplaces that now offer various domestic and recreational services
coffee shops and Internet cafes that are often populated by solitary
computer workers
etc
Behavioral, Psychological, and
Health Impacts of Environmental
Change
◦ Internet-supported behaviors have made people’s
daily lives more convenient and enjoyable
◦ But:There are a number of behavioral costs,
psychological burdens, and health challenges
Daily routines have become more fragmented
Knowledge workers experience little time on one task
before switching and encounter frequent interruptions
Behavioral fragmentation and “continuous partial
attention” also evident in residential and family domains
Increasing experience of distraction and information
overload in workplaces and other settings
greater self-reported stress, poorer health status,
reduced productivity, and less time devoted to
contemplative activities
Internet use and it’s detrimental
effects on interpersonal orientations
States of “absent presence” may
undermine social cohesion and moral
understandings in local communities
People’s conceptions of friendship may
become more superficial and diluted in
the context of networking sites (facebook
etc)
Psychological perspectives on peopleenvironment
relations in a turbulent
world
Being regularly confronted by urgent
warnings about ecological disasters etc
and by the frenetic pace of modern life
attentional fatigue, helplessness,
avoiding social contacts with others in
local community
07.04.2014
18
Need for new theory and research
New conceptualizations of human
response to ecological, social, and
technological change are needed,
particularly those that
(a) address the links between local and
global events
(b) include collective as well as individual
efforts to cope with impending threats
Psychological Perspectives on the
Relationships Between Local and Global
Environments
Factors that encourage people to identify with
places and populations that are geographically
distant from their own
How remote environmental conditions influence
experiences of stress,coping,and psychological
restoration.
New conceptualizations of restorative
environment addressing interdependencies
between the psychological restoration
experienced by individuals in low-stress settings
and environmental restoration efforts undertaken
by collectivities to improve the quality of
community and global environments.
From Individualist to Collectivist Analyses of
Human Response to Environmental Change
Complex ecological, technological,and
social crises, cannot be averted through
isolated individual efforts
Analyses of psychological stress due to
environmental change must confront the
social and political dimensions of global
crises and wellbeing.
A new science of transdisciplinary action
research is needed to address global
problems
Evidence-Based
Strategies for Managing
Contemporary Ecological Challenges
How people conceptualize the links between
their local environments and global events
Why and when people begin to identify with
cross-national as well as local interests and
goals.
Identify personal and situational factors that
enable people to move from personal states
of anxiety and passivity toward collective
action to ameliorate local and global
problems.
07.04.2014
19
The promise of internet – based
communications
Among the most promising and powerful strategies for
promoting greater ecological and societal stability.
Has changed the way collective concerns are pursued.
Environmental educators and proponents of civic governance
have created interactive Web sites for disseminating
information about global ecology, environmental protection,
an communityorganizing techniques
Can encourage geographically dispersed people to broaden
their awareness of global events, organize and participate in
political protests,
Well suited for promoting public participation in social
movements and a collective sense of identity and community
among people from across the globe
Can be used to warn people of impending natural disasters
and emergent crises.