Intro Flashcards
What is social responsibility?
ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society
Real world example (O’Connor et al. (2020)
Pressing need is to research the negative biopsychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate immediate and longer-term recovery, not only in relation to mental health
Also in relation to behaviour change and adherence, work, education, children and families, physical health and the brain, and social cohesion and connectedness.
Climate change
A whole ‘science’: climate science is the study of regional and global climate as a system
Driven by a need to understand how our climate is changing
High CO2 affecting global temperatures
Dangerous changes to climate systems
- Melting sea ice
- Sea level rise
- North Atlantic drift shutdown
- Tropical forest fires
- Emissions from wetlands
- Extreme temperatures
Impacts on human and natural systems
- Coasts and oceans
- Ecosystems and biodiversity
- Fresh water
- Agriculture and food security
- Human health
Bangladesh experiencing this as there are floods, (Moniruzzaman, 2012)
Environmentalism
A social movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism, and education to protect resources and ecosystems
Environmental protection through sustainability
Environmentalism in 1970s:
- Emergence of nature-related topics - e.g., how spending time in nature restores people’s ability to pay attention and cope with stress (Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008; Gifford, 2014)
- Concerns about pollution
Environmentalism in 1990s
Ecopsychologists
* (some) clinicians incorporated ecopsychological therapies into their practices
* Argued that modern living erodes people’s connection to nature, leaving them developmentally deprived and psychologically distressed (Roszak, 1992; Roszak, Gomes, & Kanner, 1995)
Conservation Psychology (Clayton & Saunders, 2012)
Modern day:
* interactive relationships between humans and the rest of nature
* focus on applying psychological theory and research to enhance conservation of natural resources
Conservation psychology (Koger & Scott, 2016) : Bad for planet
- global warming is widely recognized as the ‘‘biggest global health threat of the twenty-first century” (Costello et al., 2009, p. 1693)
- chemical pollutants linked to birth defects
- Epidemic prevalence of mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, and substance use/abuse
- possibly due to psychological disconnection from the natural world (Conn, 1998; Roszak et al., 1995)
Conservation psychology (Koger & Scott, 2016): Good for the planet
· ‘‘sustainable’’ practices including experiences in natural settings promote healthy child development
Examples such as air quality; physical activity; social cohesion
Hartig, Mitchell, deVries & Frumkin (2014)
Relevance and timeliness of integrating psychology and sustainability
* Psychologists are increasingly applying their expertise to environmental issues
* APA has called for psychologists to become more involved in addressing climate change
How does Psychology solve contemporary social problem?
- we have a shared responsibility to help create a more sustainable society (Harré, 2011)
- ‘right’ to apply the accumulated wisdom from the behavioural sciences to solving contemporary social problems
Concepts and theories
Shifting baseline syndrome (SBS; Soga & Gaston, 2018 )- gradual change in the accepted norms for the condition of the natural environment due
Consequences
High societal tolerance for progressive environmental degradation
Alters people’s expectations as to what is a desirable
Setting of inappropriate targets for environmental conservation, restoration and management programs
Can you overcome consequences?
Restoration of the natural environment; education
Lower extinction of experience; more data
The role of emotion
Brechin, 2003) –> Public apathy on global warming–> significant concern
Source of information and an impetus for social action
- “Collective avoiding” as the social organization of denial
Play a key role in denial, providing much of the reason why people preferred to avoid information.
Helplessness vs. solutions (Their & Lin, 2022)
Research shows media are public primary info source about risks and crises (Their & Lin, 2022)
traditional climate change journalism fails to empower audiences to press for solutions (Hackett et al., 2017)
coverage of climate change typically describes unconnected episodes and overemphasizes disasters
limited mention of “agency, hope and efficacy”
Solutions focused messaging
- social cognitive theory of mass communication áindividuals’ self-efficacy
- perceived self-efficacy by modelling human behaviour; influence people incentive to act (Bandura, 2001)
- aims to focus on the response and its development to social problems.
Their and Lin (2022): 352 students randomly allocated to read either a ‘problem’ orientated a solutions focused article
Anchoring and Adjustment
Tversky and Kahneman (1974): people’s judgments are adjusted in relation to implicit reference points (anchors)
Radical Activism
may be an extreme position on the activism spectrum (i.e. an anchor) that helps to make the less radical positions seem more moderate
False Polarization
Tend to perceive the views of those on the opposing side of a partisan debate as more extreme than they really are; to perceive opponents as more susceptible to biased thinking than we are; and to attribute negative motives to those on the opposing side of a debate (Pronin, Gilovich, & Ross, 2004)
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