Course:EOSC311/2020/Shaping Environmental Attitudes

From UBC Wiki

Summary

Climate change renders a notable threat to the welfare of humans and societies. As the science of human behavior, psychology has much to contribute to both understanding and addressing that threat. Human behavior is largely responsible for climate change and the health and wellbeing of humans is directly dependent upon the wellbeing of the ecosystem. Perception in psychology refers to knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, concern and perceived risk of a threat. The way people perceive climate change affects how they influence climate change. The determinants of behavior highlights the reasons behind why people do what they do. People’s actions towards climate change is dependent upon their knowledge about it, their motivations for influencing change and the context they are in. Numerous psychological barriers prevent rational thought and lead to inaction. Climate change brings up many significant mental health complications, including higher suicide rates[1], poor school performance[2] and a feeling of uneasiness.[3] The impacts can be acute or chronic. Climate change consequences are particularly magnified for marginalized groups such as women, disabled people, refugees, homeless individuals and indigenous people. There is an urgent need to discuss the impacts of climate change and take action to prevent loss to quality of life and economic well being. Coping strategies include maintaining a community and to strive for personal growth in the challenging times to come.

Connection between geology and psychology

[4]The catastrophic effect of climate change on dam failures across the United States. There are approximately 91,500 dams which are at the risk of falling and could cause damage to thousands of people.
Human behaviors such as protests guide environmental policy making. Psychology aims to study and direct human behavior.

Climate change is defined as a change in global climate patterns and it is one of the most inescapable issues that we currently face as a society. Although climate change may appear as just an environmental problem, human behaviour is largely responsible for it and humans will be affected by it. Climate change brings on a significant threat to the wellbeing of humans, and the effects on nature and earth processes are innumerable. A significant increase in the number of droughts[5] and other severe weather events throughout the world has been observed. The melting of the glaciers is causing the sea levels to rise and this has led to coastal flooding in low-lying areas. The health and wellbeing of humans is directly dependent upon the wellbeing of the ecosystem. We need to not only prepare for these impacts, but also understand how it will affect people and societies and how people will respond to it. For example, the number of dam failures is increasing exponentially and the causes for it can be attributed to extreme rainfall caused by erratic weather patterns. Recently, a dam failed in Central Michigan due to being swamped by rainwater.[6] Global warming brings about unprecedented disasters and this trend is anticipated to continue and accelerate in the years to come. Climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme rainfall events, which risks overtopping dams, causing them to fail. There are approximately 91,500 dams in the United States itself which are at the risk of failing, which would cause damage to millions of people.[6] The current infrastructure that backs human society was built to withstand a normal range of conditions, but the range itself has shifted as the climate warms. If this infrastructure fails, it will also have a significant impact on the economy. Moreover, flooding will have an impact on farming and food production which will affect the suitability of geographic locations for growing crops, and this will have a direct impact on the people working in the agricultural industry. Human perceptions, behaviors, and well-being are implicated as contributors to and outcomes of climate change, and psychology is the study of human behavior. Individual attitudes directly influence who will be elected and which policies will be implemented. For example, Donald Trump has referred to climate change as a "hoax"[7]. Psychology is an empirical science that studies and guides human behaviour. Climate change brings on a significant threat and psychological interventions need to take place which will promote well-being in the future.



Climate change and people

  • How do people perceive climate change?
President Donald Trump rejects the legitimacy of climate change.

Perception in psychology refers to knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, concern and perceived risk of a threat.[8] People tend to discount one’s own contribution to causing climate change and identify causes of climate change primarily with other people or countries.[9] The most recent data suggests that in the United States, around 13% think that climate change is not happening and only about 55% see it as mostly human caused problem. [10] Skepticism about climate change is also related to the political weather at that time. For example, right leaning groups around the world discredit the impact of climate change and according to social psychology, people tend to blindly follow authority.[11] Moreover, people with more egalitarian world views tend to be more concerned about climate change than those whose worldview is more individualistic.[12]

  • Human behaviors that influence climate change

Individuals consume fossil fuel-based energy which makes them directly responsible for their emissions of greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources which take millions of years to form and trap huge amounts of carbon below the surface and lock it into a slow carbon cycle. When these fossil fuels are extracted and burned, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere which has a significant impact on climate. People cause greenhouse gas emissions indirectly by purchasing products that burn fossil fuels. Thirdly, they influence climate change through their roles as citizens by electing people in power who decide environmental policies.

Determinants of behavior : What leads people to do what they do?

  • Knowledge

People's actions towards climate change is dependent upon what they know or not know about it. For example, people misinterpret the actions that affect climate change. There is a tendency for people to incorrectly believe that an increase in recycling is very significantly instrumental in limiting climate change.[13] In a study that asked respondents to list the most effective thing they could do to conserve energy, only 12% of participants described household energy efficiency improvements; 55% described curtailment behaviors that involve changing daily routines, most often turning off lights.[14] This establishes the fact that there is a cognitive bias towards low impact behavior that is very visible in contrast to a more effective and high impact behavior.[14] It is therefore of importance for people to know about the relative efficacy of various actions and to also know about how energy systems interact with one another to utilize them sustainably.

  • Motivations
Environmental behavior due to altruistic reasons is the result of deeply held values and people feel a moral obligation to maintain a connection with nature[15]

According to the value-belief-norm theory of pro-environmental behavior,[16] environmental behavior is defined as the result of deeply held values that exemplifies concern beyond a person's immediate self-interest, such as altruism. Values are hypothesized to affect the relationship of humans with nature, which in turn has an affect on what people think will be the result of their actions on environmental problems. The value-belief-norm theory proposes that people tend to take part in energy-saving behaviors because they feel a moral obligation to address climate change due to their connection with nature.

Tesla is a luxury car that is an example of an alternative-energy car that uses electricity to run.

However, altruistic concerns aren't the only reason people engage in pro-environmental behavior, people may engage in energy-saving behavior as a way to inflate their status in society. One such example is investing in hybrid vehicles or installing solar panels as a way of signalling their affluence with what they perceive as luxury goods.

  • Contextual Influences

A number of contextual variables can influence pro-environmental behavior. For example, travel by cycling or using public transport is only possible if the infrastructure is built well enough for it and buying an alternative-energy car like Tesla is affected by the cost of purchase and if there are adequate charging stations in the region. Countries may implement policies that promote pro-environmental behavior. For example, Germany has offered incentives for households to participate in community solar panel projects that can be constructed away from the homes of those involved.[17]

  • Psychological barriers

Individuals decide whether or not to undertake environmental efforts if they see their significant others take part in it. People also constantly make upward and downward social comparisons to decide whether to take action. Environmental numbness[18] occurs when we select only a few cues that are important to us out of all the sensory cues in our mental spaces that we can successfully monitor. This is related to the theory that humans aren't very rational and cognitive dissonance[19] acts as a psychological barrier that drives inaction.

How does climate change affect mental health?

People may be forced to migrate due to flooding of the coastal regions due to climate change.

Climate change brings up many significant health implications: both physical as well as mental. A study shows that as global temperatures rise, people all over the world are exposed to climate related public health threats.[20] Acute and chronic effects of climate change lead to stress and severe psychological trauma due to death, injury and uncertainty of the future. On a community level, climate change reflects a failure to achieve a healthy quality of life. People tend to feel terror, anger and shock as initial responses to a disaster[21], and some form of psychopathy was observed in between 7% and 40% of the population who experienced natural disasters in their lifetimes.[22] Higher temperatures have been correlated with an increase in the suicide rates[1] and it is negatively correlated with school performance among children and teens.[2]

Climate change also leads to changing patterns of precipitation and longer periods of drought which can last for months or even multiple years. A study shows that a small increase in temperature would place millions of people at risk of hunger[23] which would directly impact their physical as well as mental health. People will also be displaced by these climate changes and will be forced to migrate, causing them to become "environmental refugees"[24]. An increase in sea levels will leave the coastal areas inundated and uninhabitable.

Moreover, climate change is irreversibly affecting landscapes that people live in and a destruction of that landscape due to erratic weather conditions will lead to a feeling of loss. "Solastalgia"[3] is defined as the uneasiness felt when people realize that things in their natural world has shifted. Research shows that people experience emotions like fear, anger, exhaustion and powerlessness as local and world news shifts their attention towards climate change.[25]

Although the effects of climate change will be felt worldwide, they will be particularly magnified for the marginalized groups. People in minority groups like women, disabled people, refugees, homeless individuals and the indigenous people have lesser access to resources to support them. Because of their caregiver role, women tend to be more affected by the trauma and stress of the acute and chronic effects of climate change. Moreover, in developing countries like India, boys receive a larger share of compensatory aid following disasters than girls do.[26]

Conclusion

Climate change brings upon a multidimensional problem, and the impacts of climate change on mental health occur on multiple scales. There is an urgent need to discuss the impacts of climate change and to take action to prevent loss to quality of life, economic well being and most importantly, our planet. One way to address mental health in the context of climate change is looking for ways to cope, such as maintaining a culturally intact community and to stimulate individual development and thrive despite the reality of climate change. It is also important to take into consideration that some people will be impacted more by climate change than others, and the health impacts will differ between the privileged and lesser-privileged. Geology and psychology are connected in many ways, geology is the study of the processes of the earth whereas psychology is the study of the mind. Geology alone cannot solve all the problems associated with climate change, and psychology gives an insight into human behavior and contributes towards informing public discussions of climate change. As geology studies a broad range of nested influences on earth and its layers and processes, psychology recognizes and evaluates the interactions between the biochemical, interpersonal and societal layers of the human mind. Some of the repercussions of climate change will be directly due to natural changes in climate and weather, whereas others will be due to social relationships and human influences. Psychology aims to study the phenomena related to climate change and develop interventions that can foster human well-being in the face of this change, and it therefore works hand-in-hand with geology.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Preti A, Lentini G, Maugeri M. Global warming possibly linked to an enhanced risk of suicide: Data from Italy, 1974–2003. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2007;102(1-3):19–25 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2006.12.003.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bartlett S. Climate change and urban children: Impacts and implications for adaptation in low- and middle-income countries. Environment and Urbanization. 2008;20:501–519
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Albrecht G. Chronic environmental change: Emerging ‘psychoterratic’ syndromes. In: Weissbecker I, ed. Climate change and human well-being: Global challenges and opportunities. New York, NY: Springer; 2011;43–56
  4. ↑ Fountain, H. (2020, May 21). 'Expect More': Climate Change Raises Risk of Dam Failures. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/climate/dam-failure-michigan-climate-change.html
  5. ↑ Fischer EM, Knutti R. Anthropogenic contribution to global occurrence of heavy-precipitation and high-temperature extremes. Nature Climate Change.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fountain, H. (2020, May 21). 'Expect More': Climate Change Raises Risk of Dam Failures. Retrieved
  7. ↑ Frisk A. Donald Trump on climate change: A “hoax”, “mythical”, “man-made”. Global News 2017; https://globalnews.ca/news/3495239/what-donald-trump-said-global-warming-climate-change/
  8. ↑ Lee TM, Markowitz EM, Howe PD, Ko CY, Leiserowitz AA. Predictors of public climate change awareness and risk perception around the world. Nature Climate Change.
  9. ↑ Lorenzoni I, Pidgeon NF. Public views on climate change: European and USA perspectives. Climatic Change. 2006;77:73–95
  10. ↑ Leiserowitz A, Maibach E, Roser-Renouf C, Rosenthal S, Cutler M. Climate change in the American mind: November 2016 New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Yale University and George Mason University; 2017; <http://climatechangecommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Climate-Change-American-Mind-November-2016.pdf> Accessed 17.06.20
  11. ↑ Trump on climate change report: “I don’t believe it.” (2018, November 26). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46351940
  12. ↑ Capstick, S.B., Whitmarsh, L., Poortinga, W. & Pidgeon, N. (2015a). International trends in public understanding of climate change over the past quarter century. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. doi:10.1002/wcc.321.
  13. ↑ Semenza JC, Hall DE, Wilson DJ, Bontempo BD, Sailor DJ, George LA. Public perception of climate change: Voluntary mitigation and barriers to behavior change. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2008;35(5):479–487 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.020
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Attari SZ, DeKay ML, Davidson CI, Bruine de Bruin W. Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2010;107(37):16054–16059.
  15. ↑ Schwartz SH. Normative influences on altruism. In: New York: Academic Press; 1977;221–279. Berkowitz L, ed. Advances in experimental social psychology. Vol. 10
  16. ↑ Stern PC, Dietz T, Abel T, Guagnano GA, Kalof L. A value-belief-norm theory of support for social movements: The case of environmentalism. Human Ecology Review. 1999;6(2):81–97.
  17. ↑ Kunzig, R. (2017, June 27). Germany Has Some Revolutionary Ideas, and They’re Working. Nationalgeographic.Com. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2015/11/germany-renewable-energy-revolution/
  18. ↑ Lewin K. A dynamic theory of personality New York: McGraw-Hill; 1935.
  19. ↑ Festinger L. A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson; 1957.
  20. ↑ Watts N, Adger WN, Agnolucci P, et al…. Health and climate change: Policy responses to protect public health. Lancet. 2015;386:1861–1914 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60854-6.
  21. ↑ Raphael B. The human touch and mass catastrophe. Psychiatry. 2007;70(4):329–336.
  22. ↑ Rubonis AV, Bickman L. Psychological impairment in the wake of disaster: The disaster-psychopathology relationship. Psychological Bulletin. 1991;109(3):384–399.
  23. ↑ Friel S, Berry H, Dinh H, O’Brien L, Walls HL. The impact of drought on the association between food security and mental health in a nationally representative Australian sample. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1):1102 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1102
  24. ↑ Myers N. Environmental refugees in a globally warmed world. Bioscience. 1993;43(11):752–761.
  25. ↑ Moser SC. More bad news: The risk of neglecting emotional responses to climate change information. In: Moser SC, Dilling L, eds. Creating a climate for change: Communicating climate change and facilitating social change. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge Books Online; 2007;64–80
  26. ↑ Datar A, Liu J, Linnemayr S, Stecher C. The impact of natural disasters on child health and investments in rural India. Social Science & Medicine. 2013;76:83–91
Retrieved from "https://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?title=Course:EOSC311/2020/Shaping_Environmental_Attitudes&oldid=602413"