What Social Scientists Know Research-based Practices for Promoting - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
What Social Scientists Know Research-based Practices for Promoting Conservation Behavior Lucy Gertz Understanding Human Behavior All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habits, reason,
“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habits, reason, passion, and desire.” Aristotle 384-322BC “Unless you believe, you will not understand” Saint Augustine 354-430AD Knowledge makes you think. Emotion makes you act. “A thing cannot be understood until it is known by all four aspects of
Psychology – scientific study of behavior Sociology – the study of human behavior in groups Environmental Psychology – study of the interplay between individuals and their surroundings Conservation Psychology – study of reciprocal relationship between individuals and the natural environment
The climate is changing. Climate change is caused by carbon emissions associated with human behavior I’m worried that climate change will cause problems for future generations. I want to do something to prevent climate change from happening. I’m going to install energy efficient light bulbs in my home to help.
Reasons for Environmental Concern: Personal Reasons (egoistic) financial, lifestyle, health, convenience Social Reasons (altruistic)
Ecological Reasons (biospheric) plants, animals, natural communities
“Desirable goals that serve as guiding principles in a person’s life” Abstract and transcend specific situations Relatively stable over time Prioritize individually wealth (material possessions, money) success (achieving goals) honesty (genuine, sincere) helpful (working for the welfare of others) daring (seeking adventure, risk) pleasure (feeling good) humble (modest) politeness (courtesy, good manners)
Research shows that individuals do not form objective beliefs
image of ourselves.
predictable Types of Biases: Temporal Spatial Social
(Van Vougt 2014) – We’re here today because our ancestors survived and reproduced. Our brains and behaviors are adaptive, fitted to the demands of our environment. Adaptive in the past does not necessarily mean adaptive today. We’re biologically predisposed to act in certain ways, to exhibit certain patterns of behavior. These patterns of behavior have led to some of the environmental problems that we see today. Our stone-age brains cause many of the environmental problems, but maybe they can be used to solve them.
Five evolved psychological biases:
personal over collective interests
value present more than future
relative status is most important
the behavior of others around them
Prioritize threats that are salient and present (i.e., things we can see, smell, or touch)
Attitudes, concerns, and values can change. Changing attitudes rarely leads to changes in behavior. Changing concerns rarely leads to changes in behavior. Attitudes do not generally predict behavior.
Attitude: favorable/unfavorable evaluations Subjective norms: beliefs about what others who are important to me think I should do Perceived behavior control: beliefs about the ease or difficulty
thoughts and actions Dissonance is an unpleasant state of tension that a person experiences when their thoughts and behaviors are inconsistent. Pressure to reduce the tension by:
Inclusion Model
the natural environment. “I am a part of nature, or I am separate from nature.” A - Affective – the extent to which an individual cares about plants and animals B - Behavioral – an individual’s commitment to act in ways that benefit the natural environment C - Cognitive – connectedness between self and nature
Values-guiding principles in a person’s life
Egoistic – focus on self Altruistic – focus on other people Biospheric – focus on the environment Beliefs
Norms Personal obligation to take action
Wilson (1984, 1993)- humans have a genetic, evolution-based need for deep and intimate association with the natural environment, particularly its living biota. Deprivation of this contact will lead to decreased physical and psychological health. Studies found that people hiking or camping in the wilderness report reduced stress. Several studies have found that people recover from surgery faster when exposed to natural environments. Humans evolved over millions of years in natural environments. Because of this evolution process, humans will have a biological disposition to favor clean, safe environments with plenty of food and water. People in all parts of the world use plants and pets to enrich their living environments. People choose to recreate in natural environments.
Understandable (through scientific study of behavior) Predictable, but not necessarily rational Changeable Behavior Change Techniques… Information-Based Community-Based Social Marketing
True or false?
Knowledge is not a motive for behavior, but lack of knowledge can be a barrier. True or false?
(printed media, television, radio, in-person)
Specific Impactful End-state IPPA Assessment: Impact - How much will it affect the goal? Probability - How difficult is change? Penetration - How many already engaged? Applicability – What is the proportion for whom is it relevant?
Incentives Contests Social Modeling Social Norms Convenience Commitments Education Feedback Prompts Cognitive Dissonance
Incentives Contests Social Modeling Social Norms Convenience Commitments Education Feedback Prompts Cognitive Dissonance
Incentives Contests Social Modeling Social Norms Convenience Commitments Education Feedback Prompts Cognitive Dissonance
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…that support local and global bird populations Target audience identified Target behaviors selected Audience analysis conducted Build support within Mass Audubon Develop the messages and the means of delivery Pilot test Make improvements Scale up to implement model more broadly
Monroe, M. (2003) Two Avenues for Encouraging Conservation
Looked at three questions for applying behavior change research to practice: What are conservation behaviors? How do we change behavior? How do we build environmental literacy that prepares people to adopt environmental behaviors? Two approaches reviewed: promoting a specific behavior change to a specific audience through social marketing cultivating environmental literacy through education and significant life experiences
Cialdini, R. (2003). Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, American Psychological Society In order for conservation behavior change messages and campaigns to be effective, they must align with what psychological researchers have learned about - descriptive norms (what people typically do) injunctive norms (what people typically approve or disapprove.) Both kinds of norms motivate individual action, and conservation communications will be more effective when they align these norms in their messaging so that people are encouraged to do what is socially acceptable and what is popular. This contrasts with many conservation campaigns that have shown people doing things that hurt the environment (littering, for example.)
Kollmuss, A. and Agyeman, J. (2002). Mind the Gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research Factors that have been found to have some influence on conservation behaviors: demographic (age, education, gender) external (institutional, economic, social and cultural) internal (motivation, environmental knowledge, values, attitudes, environmental awareness, emotional involvement, locus of control, and responsibility and priorities)
Stern, P. and Dietz, T. et al. (1999). A Value-Belief-Norm Theory of Support for Social Movements: The Case of Environmentalism. Human Ecology Review Collected data from 420 respondents, who were assessed for their environmentalism along with several variables included in the Value-Belief-
(consumer behavior, environmental citizenship, policy support or acceptance) An individual’s role in supporting and advancing environmentalism can span four levels:
funds, reading literature)
DeYoung, R. (1993). Changing Behavior and Making it Stick: The Conceptualization and Management of Conservation Behavior. Environment and Behavior. Found that many conservation behavior change techniques have focused on single, short-term behaviors. In an effort to support environmental education efforts that will be more effective and efficient in promoting durable conservation behavior change, this article reviews research on various behavior change techniques (informational, motivational, and coercive) an assessment of how generalizable and durable they tend to be, without the need for continuous intervention.
DeYoung, R. (2000). Expanding and Evaluating Motives for Environmentally Responsible Behavior. Journal of Social Issues ERB could expand focus to include a wider range of motives, beyond the most commonly assessed – providing material incentives/disincentives altruistic reasons for engaging in a behavior – which have both shown limited behavior change reliability and durability. The author cites that
person’s needs, concerns, interests and values, have shown to be effective.
thoughtful consumption, and participation in maintaining a community, are all factors in achieving durable, intrinsically-motivated behavior.
can be an effective motivator for promoting ERB.