Lecture 3

Question 1

What is individual decision making linked to?

Answer 1

Knowledge and behaviour

Question 2

What influences behaviour?

Answer 2

interactions between attitudes, contextual factors and prior decisions

Question 3

What is the example for demonstrating the greater importance of behaviour than knowledge upon decision mking?

Answer 3

students studying this module are in the top 2 or 3 percent but have similar actions towards everyone else

Question 4

What are other determinants upon decision making behaviour?

Answer 4

socio-economic position

children

Question 5

What setting might people be more willing to accept going vegetarian? and why?

Answer 5

If food is made for them because:

1) better for environment
2) no one therefore wants to be seen as that person being a dick
3) easier to have what you have been served

Question 6

What particular influence upon environmental decisions is heavily influenced by other factors?

Answer 6

having another child

Question 7

what is the rebound effect?

Answer 7

when behavioural responses to energy efficient decisions result in a less efficient outcome than was intended

Question 8

What is the backfire effect

Answer 8

behavioural response to energy efficient decisions results in more energy beig consumed than before

Question 9

What is the example of a backfire effect?

Answer 9

buying an energy efficient lightbulb that takes longer to warm up so people just leave it on all the time

Question 10

What part of the population are the highest emitters and why?

Answer 10

High income population leads to high mobility (personal transport, more holidays/fligths means more emissions

Question 11

What also causes high income earners to emit the most?

Answer 11

They usually have big houses which are energy intensive

Question 12

What are 4 reasons for targeting the rich population?

Answer 12

1. significant component of total energy consumption
2. aspirational status drives higher consumption in rest of society (e.g. MIC)
3. Starting point for reducing average consumption
4. component of a wider policy package
5. fairness compared to poorer populations

Question 13

What is the possible drawback with targeting the rich?

Answer 13

it will affect the poor even worse depending on the actions that are implemented

Question 14

What did Nicholas (2017) and Wynes and Nicholas (2017) state?

Answer 14

Individuals in developed countries can take 4 actions to reduce emissions: plant-based diet, reduce car usage, reduce flights, think about next generation (i.e. have one less fewer child)

Question 15

willingness to adopt less meat option increases with perceived effectiveness

Answer 15

What did de Boer, Witt and Aiking (2016) state?

Question 16

What did Druckman et al. (2011) state?

Answer 16

• Rebound effect
• Difference between rebound and backfire
• The lowest possible rebound effect is 12%
• the rebound effect for combination of 3 abatement actions by UK households they estimate as 34%.

Question 17

What did Chitnis et al. (2012) state?

Answer 17

Direct vs indirect rebound. Direct is increased consumption of activity, indirect means increased consumption of other activities that are energy consuming

Question 18

What did Fawcett (2016) state?

Answer 18

policy designed on consumption could be designed in a number of different ways: individuals and households, products and homes or both.

Question 19

alleged carbon footprints can greatly reduce the researcher’s credibility compared to low footprints. This then affects participant’s reported intentions to change

Answer 19

What did Attari, Krantz and Weber (2016) state?