An interesting article by Professor David Uzzell (Professor of Environmental Psychology at University of Surry) on "challenging assumptions in the psychology of climate change".
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He challenges 4 assumptions that are often made:
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1. Everyone experiences similar barriers to acting sustainably
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"Different strategies will be required for different groups depending upon the different barriers they erect to sustainable behaviour."
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"In a study examining the barriers to changing from disposable to modern reusable cloth nappies, it became clear that different groups of parents had different constraints and needs - convenience, self belief, experience, initial institutional (e.g., hospital) support, incentives, information for spouses, stigma and cost (Uzzell & Leach, 2003)."
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"One way of thinking about these barriers, the kind of strategies that are required to overcome them, and the prioritising of them as target groups is to define these groups in terms of 'would, could, can't, don't and won't'."
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2. The young are most supportive of pro-environmental actions
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Lyons, Uzzell & Storey (2001) found that young people (aged 18 - 35 years): were the most strongly opposed to changing their behaviour as they considered being forced to recycle was an infringement of individual freedom. They resented being told what to do and admitted that if they felt under pressure to recycle they were less likely to do it. They objected to penalties for not recycling and joked about the "recycling police and a police state", and about having bins with alarms fitted that went off when you threw out a recyclable item. They considered that recycling and pro-environmental behaviour change should not be a priority because they perceived few immediate, serious and tangible benefits or costs to the individuals concerned. They considered that the environmental effects of waste generation were too distant to motivate change, and small lifestyle changes were seen to have "zero effect" on what is regarded as a global problem.
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3. Recycling has a positive image
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"most of the role models associated with recycling were negative."
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"The prototypical recycler identified by the young people was an "old man in his fifties with a beard or a woman in a tie-dyed t-shirt and dungarees". The young parents had various stereotypes of people who recycle: an ecowarrior image, Swedes or other Scandinavians, outdoors types, people who buy IKEA furniture or someone who is perfect."
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"The middle-aged group described a recycler as "someone boring"."
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4. Children will change their parents' attitudes and behaviours
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Uzzell (1999) "concluded that the role of children in encouraging sustainable behaviours in the family occurs only rarely, typically in more middle-class and better educated families."
.
"In the majority of homes we found low levels of concern about environmental problems, with parents having little knowledge about environmental problems and in some cases negative attitudes towards education, low levels of motivation and poor self esteem in respect of their educational role."
.
"It cannot be assumed that simply giving children environmental change information and relying on a process of osmosis will lead to enhanced concern and action. "
.
Well worth a read and available at:
http://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/challenging_assumptions/
.
He challenges 4 assumptions that are often made:
.
1. Everyone experiences similar barriers to acting sustainably
.
"Different strategies will be required for different groups depending upon the different barriers they erect to sustainable behaviour."
.
"In a study examining the barriers to changing from disposable to modern reusable cloth nappies, it became clear that different groups of parents had different constraints and needs - convenience, self belief, experience, initial institutional (e.g., hospital) support, incentives, information for spouses, stigma and cost (Uzzell & Leach, 2003)."
.
"One way of thinking about these barriers, the kind of strategies that are required to overcome them, and the prioritising of them as target groups is to define these groups in terms of 'would, could, can't, don't and won't'."
.
2. The young are most supportive of pro-environmental actions
.
Lyons, Uzzell & Storey (2001) found that young people (aged 18 - 35 years): were the most strongly opposed to changing their behaviour as they considered being forced to recycle was an infringement of individual freedom. They resented being told what to do and admitted that if they felt under pressure to recycle they were less likely to do it. They objected to penalties for not recycling and joked about the "recycling police and a police state", and about having bins with alarms fitted that went off when you threw out a recyclable item. They considered that recycling and pro-environmental behaviour change should not be a priority because they perceived few immediate, serious and tangible benefits or costs to the individuals concerned. They considered that the environmental effects of waste generation were too distant to motivate change, and small lifestyle changes were seen to have "zero effect" on what is regarded as a global problem.
.
3. Recycling has a positive image
.
"most of the role models associated with recycling were negative."
.
"The prototypical recycler identified by the young people was an "old man in his fifties with a beard or a woman in a tie-dyed t-shirt and dungarees". The young parents had various stereotypes of people who recycle: an ecowarrior image, Swedes or other Scandinavians, outdoors types, people who buy IKEA furniture or someone who is perfect."
.
"The middle-aged group described a recycler as "someone boring"."
.
4. Children will change their parents' attitudes and behaviours
.
Uzzell (1999) "concluded that the role of children in encouraging sustainable behaviours in the family occurs only rarely, typically in more middle-class and better educated families."
.
"In the majority of homes we found low levels of concern about environmental problems, with parents having little knowledge about environmental problems and in some cases negative attitudes towards education, low levels of motivation and poor self esteem in respect of their educational role."
.
"It cannot be assumed that simply giving children environmental change information and relying on a process of osmosis will lead to enhanced concern and action. "
.
Well worth a read and available at:
http://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/challenging_assumptions/
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Re: Tariq: This is the "Star Trek" vision - so of course I agree with it. The 1st trick is finding a way of harnessing such a source of renewable energy without the structural ecological/environmental cost.
It's tempting to think that the new "World Brain" will bring the solution within reach...
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