Module 1 Social Psychology and the Environment Flashcards
basic research vs applied research
basic research, which is concerned primarily with theoretical issues, and applied research,
which is concerned primarily with addressing specific real-world problems.
why are social psychologists good at studying applied problems?
For two reasons: First, the field of
social psychology is a rich source of theories about human behaviour that people can
draw on to devise solutions to social problems
Second, but of equal importance, social psychologists know how to perform rigorous experimental tests of these solutions
to see if they work
Explain the the effects of the researchers hypothesisthat low energy users might
keep up the g
Consumers who got the “smiley face” reward maintained the same low rate of energy
use that they had before the experiment began. The smiley face reminded them that
they were doing the right thing and, as a result, they kept on doing it. (The “sad face”
treatment was effective in getting high usage consumers to use less, as was information
about the average use in the neighbourhood
commons dilemma
a situation in which everyone takes from a common pool of goods
that will replenish itself if used in moderation but will disappear if overused.
Simply allowing the group to talk together for 10
minutes dramatically increased the number of members who donated money to the
group—from 38 percent to 79 percent (Orbell et al., 1988). How does communication work?
First, when people make a public commitment
to help, it is more difficult to back out. If people can take the selfish route privately,
undiscovered by their peers, they will often do so
When people communicate, they are more likely
to establish a sense of group identity or solidarity, which makes them
more likely to act for the good of the group
how to increase cooperation/donation/working for the good of the group
- communication between members
- one person to set
an example by cooperating consistently and without exception.
People follow two kinds of social
norms: injunctive norms, which are _______, and descriptive norms, which
are ______
People follow two kinds of social
norms: injunctive norms, which are people’s perceptions of the behaviour that is approved or disapproved of by others, and
descriptive norms, which
are people’s perceptions of how others actually behave in a given situation
explain a study using injunctive norms to prevent littering
As people left a
local library and approached their cars in the parking lot, a confederate walked by them,
picked up a fast-food bag that had been discarded on the ground, and put the bag in the
trash. In a control condition, no bag was on the ground, and the confederate simply walked
by the library patrons. When the patrons got to their car, they found a pamphlet on their
windshield. The question was how many of these people would litter by throwing the
pamphlet on the ground. Reno and colleagues hypothesized that seeing the confederate pick up the fast-food bag would be a vivid reminder of the injunctive
norm—littering is bad, and other people disapprove of it—and hence would reduce the participant’s own inclination to litter. They were right. In this condition, only 7 percent of the people tossed the pamphlet on the ground, compared
with 37 percent in the control condition
explain a study about how keeping track of energy expenditure curbs excess use
Graham, Koo, and Wilson (2011) asked college students to keep track of the number
of miles they avoided driving and to record that figure on a website every other day for
two weeks. As predicted, students who kept track of the miles they saved drove their
cars less than did students in a control group who did not keep track of the miles they
saved. This finding is consistent with research showing that simply keeping track of
one’s behaviour is the first step to changing it
Keeping track of one’s
behaviour that avoids environmental damage and receiving concrete feedback about the
savings turned out to be an effective way to get college students to drive their cars less.
T/F:
engaging people’s competitive spirit can have a significant impact on their behaviour.
true.
Two units of a factory were urged to conserve energy and then received feedback about how their unit was doing. Only one of the units, however, received comparative feedback about how they were doing relative to the other unit. As seen in the graph, workers in this second unit showed a greater improvement in their behaviour, especially by turning off the lights more often.
A large body of evidence shows that people
who are high in intrinsic motivation are much more likely to engage in a variety of proenvironmental behaviours and to sustain these behaviours over time. explain a study
being internally motivated to preserve the environment (versus feeling external pressure to do so) is associated with pro-environmental behaviours such as sustained
curbside recycling, as well as more effortful forms of recycling (e.g., recycling away from
home), environmental activism, conserving water, and buying biodegradable products
(see Pelletier & Sharp, 2008, for a review).
How can we increase people’s intrinsic motivation?
1) make people aware that a problem exists. Can do this through fear or information.
2) focus to solutions that can be implemented now to avoid the feared negative outcomes/
3) develop an implementation plan: people’s specific plans about where, when and how they will fulfill a goal.
T/F: The hypocrisy procedure has also been found to increase other
environmentally sound practices, such as recycling
True.
TF: people’s attitudes toward recycling are good predictors of their recycling behaviour
true.
people who have environmentally friendly attitudes are more likely
to engage in behaviours to lower greenhouse gas emissions in their homes (e.g., turning
off lights, recycling, keeping temperatures moderate) than those who hold less environmentally friendly attitudes
how does removing small barriers in peoples lives affect environmentalism.
“People will take pro-environmental
actions if they have access to a convenient way of doing so” (Berger, 1997). Increasing the number of recycling bins in a community, instituting curbside recycling, and
allowing residents to mix materials instead of having to sort them have all been found to
increase people’s recycling behaviour
