PSYCHOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental Sustainability

    Scientifically and Ethically Relevant

Multidisciplinary Problem-oriented Focus

The “Big Ideas” Alternative

    Insights from 4 Perspectives

        Neoanalytic
        Behavioral
        Social Psychological
        Cognitive

Neoanalytic

    Freud on Humans in Relation to Nature

        Instinctual Drives
        Defense Mechanisms

    Object Relations and the Earth

    The Ecological Self
       
        Alienation from Nature
        Goals and Methods of Ecotherapy

Behavioral

    Stimulus Control
    
    Contingency Management (rational economic model)

        The Power of Short-term Reinforcement
        Financial Incentives
        Response Cost

Social Psychological

    Norms and Social Diffusion
    Cognitive Dissonance
    Egalitarian Worldview
    Correlates of Pro-environmental Attitudes

Cognitive

    Public Service Media Campaigns
    Elements of Information Processing
    Heuristic Inaccuracies
    Discrepant Public-Expert Definitions of Risk

General Recommendations

    Recalibrate Psychology’s Current Goals
    Focus on Organizational as well as Individual Behavior

DISCUSSION:

➢    Why do psychologists not consider the environment as central to their work?

➢    Psychology’s “big ideas” are relevant to ensuring a sustainable future, but they are presented in isolation of related disciplines and sectors of society.  Can psychology be an effective environmental change agent when operating alone?