the psychology of sustainability
TRANSCRIPT
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The Psychology of Sustainability
Beth Karlin Transformational Media Lab
University of California, Irvine
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Mission: Our lab studies how technology and new media are (and can be) used to transform individuals, communities, and systems.
B. Karlin
Issue-based Film
Campaigns
Smart Grid and Energy
Efficiency
Transformational Media Lab
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1. Technology and new media are changing how people interact with our natural, built, and social worlds.
B. Karlin
Underlying Assumptions
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1. Technology and new media are changing how people interact with our natural, built, and social worlds.
2. There are potential opportunities to leverage these changes for pro-social / pro-environmental benefit.
B. Karlin
Underlying Assumptions
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1. Technology and new media are changing how people interact with our natural, built, and social worlds.
2. There are potential opportunities to leverage these changes for pro-social / pro-environmental benefit
3. A psychological approach provides a theoretical base and empirical methodology to study this potential.
B. Karlin
Underlying Assumptions
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The Big Picture
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Increasing Consumption
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Popular Options
Alternative Energy Cap and Trade Increased Efficiency
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But what about people?
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People are impacting the environment.
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People are being impacted.
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People have choices to make.
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People can do something about it.
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Psychology studies people n Psychology: the scientific study of mental processes and behavior
(American Heritage Dictionary)
n From the Greek “psyche” (mind, soul) and “logia” (study of)
n Areas include: p Clinical – relieving emotional/behavioral dysfunction
p Cognitive –mental processes (learning, perception, memory)
p Developmental - intellectual, as well as moral development of the mind
p Social - reactions to social stimuli and their underlying mental processes
p Neurological –behavior that springs from reactions within the nervous system
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It’s not just …
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… but all of this
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Environmental Psychology p The study of human behavior and well-being in relation to the
socio-physical environment (Stokols & Altman, 1987)
p Concerned with providing a systematic account of the relationship between a person and the environment (Russel & Snodgrass, 1987)
p Study of the interrelationship between behavior and experience and the built and natural environment (Bell, et al., 1990)
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Sustainability Science
“emerging field of research dealing with the interactions between natural and social systems, and with how those interactions affect the challenge of sustainability: meeting the needs of present and future generations while substantially reducing poverty and conserving the planet's life support systems” National Academies of Science, 2011
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
(APA Task Force on Psychology and Climate Change, 2009)
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
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Types of Consumption Behavior
1. Direct
2. Indirect
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Indirect Energy Use
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Indirect Energy Use
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Direct Energy Use
Example: Lighting
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Behavioral Dimensions
Curtailment Efficiency
Suffer Spend
Karlin et al. (2012)
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Different Behaviors …
Curtailment
Efficiency
Turn off lights Run full loads Turn off/unplug
Efficient Appliances Check toilet
for leaks
Check for thermal leaks
Change light bulb Insulate home
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…Different Predictors
Karlin et al. (2012) Variables tested for differences between feedback users and non-users Significant differences based on independent samples t-tests
Variable Curtailment Efficiency
Gender .031 -.099*
Age -.012 .370***
Race -.086* .028
Married -.077 .272***
Education -.019 .107*
Income -.052 .172***
Home Type -.021 .284***
Homeowner .004 .425***
Home Size -.030 .281***
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Karlin et al. (2012)
…Different Predictors Variable Curtailment Efficiency
Behavioral Beliefs .152*** .167***
Control Beliefs .162*** .028
Normative Beliefs .079 .026
Price Consciousness .134** .192***
Financial Motivation .038 .030
Env. Paradigm .165*** .056
Environmental Norm .232*** .101*
Environmental Motivation .196*** .074
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= Different Behavior Models?
Is it the right thing to do?
Media & Education
Focus on values
Is it in my best interest?
Incentives
Focus on cost
Moral Model Rational Model
Karlin et al. (2012)
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Questioning the Model
Curtailment
Efficiency
Turn off lights Run full loads Turn off/unplug
Efficient Appliances Check toilet
for leaks
Check for thermal leaks
Change light bulb Insulate home
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Questioning the Model
Low Cost
High Cost
Infrequent
Frequent
Curtailment ???
Efficiency Maintenance
Karlin et al. (2012)
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Questioning the Model Curtailment Efficiency Maintenance
Karlin et al. (2012)
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
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The “Risk Thermostat” Threat response highest:
1. Simple causality
2. Historical precedent
3. Visible/obvious
4. Immediate consequences
5. Caused by an “other”
6. Direct impacts
Climate Change:
1. Complex causality
2. Unprecedented
3. Invisible/imperceptible
4. Impacts unclear
5. Natural/collective cause
6. Indirect impacts
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Dual Processing Model
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Cognitive Appraisal
www.cred.columbia.edu
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Affective response
www.cred.columbia.edu
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Is it going to ruin my day?
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Is it going to ruin my day?
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Does it have a face?
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
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Response to Threat?
Perceive Appraise Respond
• Threat appraisal • Coping appraisal
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Protection Motivation Theory
p Threat Appraisal
n Threat Severity (How bad is it?)
n Threat Vulnerability (Can it happen to me?)
p Coping Appraisal
n Behavioral Efficacy (Can I do something?)
n Response Efficacy (Will it matter?)
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Protection Motivation Theory
High Coping Low Coping
High Threat Response Anxiety
Low Threat Apathy Indifference
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
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Physical Impacts (IPCC) p Elevated temperatures
n melting of polar ice n damage to and loss of coastal land
p Weather extremes n more rainfall during shorter periods n Increased risk of fire
p Ecosystem disruption n stress and death of vegetation n migration and extinction of animals
p Human Health n heat stress n migration of disease vectors
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Psychosocial Impacts p Emotional Reactions
n Fear n Apathy n Numbing
p Mental Health n PTSD n Depression n Anxiety
p Social / Cultural n Heat-related issues n Intergroup violence n Displacement &
relocation
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Positive Psychosocial Impacts
p Collective efficacy p Increased well being p Positive coping
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
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We’re not always “rational”
The “rational actor” is… But data shows…
Constantly calculating costs and benefits to make decisions
We often rely on instinct and emotion to make decisions
Knowledgeable and/or information-seeking
We often make decisions without seeking additional information
An individual decision-maker Decisions are made socially
Willing to change behavior if benefits exceed costs
We often maintain costly behaviors due to habit and/or emotion
Willing to change behavior given sufficient information
Mass information is not very effective in changing behavior
Likely to make the same decisions as others in similar situation
Consumption is highly varied (3x variability in identical houses)
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Anchoring
Ariely, D. (2009)
16%
0%
84%
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Anchoring
Ariely, D. (2009)
16%
0%
84%
68%
32%
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Endowment Effect
How much are you willing to pay for a mug?
What happened?
a) The students with mugs priced them higher. b) The students with no mugs priced them higher. c) Both sets of students priced them about the same
For how much money would you sell your mug?
Students in every other seat were given university mugs.
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Endowment Effect Students with the mugs were willing to sell them for
$4.50 Students with no mugs were willing to buy them for
$2.25
Kahneman, Knetsch, & Thaler (1990)
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Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
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Intervention Strategies p Framing
p Defaults
p Social Norms
p Feedback
p Film Campaigns
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Framing Presentation of information in a way that encourages certain interpretations & discourages others.
“There is no value neutral way of presenting people with information.” - Elke Weber, APA 2012
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Framing
www.cred.columbia.edu
p Make it tangible
p Give examples
p Use high-impact words
p Frame in terms of losses, rather than gains
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Defaults
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Defaults
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Social Norms
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Social Norms
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B. Karlin, 2012
“Information about the result of a process or action that can be used in modification or control of a process or system”
Oxford English Dictionary
Feedback
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Kempton and Layne, 1994
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Feedback
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Many Films on Sustainability
B. Karlin
Food Films
- Food Inc
- Fresh
- Food Fight
- Ingredients
- Food Matters
- Supersize Me
- The Future of Food
- The Garden
- King Corn
- What's on your plate?
- Deconstructing supper
Water Films - Flow - Blue Gold - Tapped - Thirst - Blue Legacy - Story of Bottled Water - Last Call at the Oasis
Climate Films - Everything's Cool - An Inconvenient Truth - 11th hour - No Impact Man - Collapse - Radically Simple - Blind Spot
Transportation Films - Who Killed the Electric Car? - Revenge of the Electric Car - Fuel - Crude
Film Campaigns
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Documentaries Today
"specific social action campaigns for each film and documentary designed to give a voice to issues that resonate in the films” (Participant Media, 2010) B. Karlin
Film Campaigns
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Film Campaigns
B. Karlin Britdoc, 2007
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B. Karlin
Film Campaigns
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Storytelling - Show and Tell
Engagement -Target and Reach
Activism - Involve and Activate
Change - Measure and Assess
Film Campaigns
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Closing Thoughts
Thank you! Beth Karlin ([email protected])
The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.
Gandhi
You hold in your hands the future of the world. Raymond Poincare, 1919