t3 conservation psych Flashcards
3 ways to change to sustainable behaviour
- curtailment (stop the behaviour)
- behaviour choice
- technology choice
internal influences on behaviour
cake ave / kev(in) care
- cognitive dissonance
- attitudes
- knowledge
- efficacy
- attribution of (R) responsibility
- values
- emotion
external influences on behaviour
gapp first
- goals
- affordances
- peer-perceived endorsement
- prompts
- feedback
- incentives
- reinforcement contingencies
- social norms
- taxes & laws
affordances
the use of function of something
if the environment provides useful affordances, people will act environmentally proactively
(if there is a means there is a way)
social norms
to behave in accordance to others
effective at curtailment
allows people to compare with each other (see how you are doing, a little like competition)
messages about other’s behaviour is more effective than information
peer-perceived endorsement
people respond better to friend’s endorsement
greater effect on females
peer-perceived endorsement (household toxin study)
study on high school children showing they were more influenced by a discussion style than lecture style because this included endorsing messages from within their group
reinforcement contingencies
positive or negative consequences of behaviour
rewards more ideal than punishment
punishment can lead to counter hostility and evasion
role of punishments
public good games
people hypothetically invest money into the game, but people can choose to invest less and ride the wave (like slackers)
when you add punishment, those who try to cheat, invest less, they are punished then this increase cooperation
“in the absence of punishment, contributions steadily decline in all treatments”
taxes & laws
increase the cost of performing unwanted behaviour
regulate behaviour to sustainable level
for example having high taxes on cigarettes and cars
—> to decrease consumption and use of these products, as prices increase, it deters you from using or buying
incentives
encourage desirable behaviour
behaviour can revert is incentive is removed
eg. rebates or certification on good energy use, people will prefer to buy these environmentally friendly appliances
prompts
reminders to behave in a certain way
effective at triggering behaviour if immediately associated with target
eg. “turn of the light when you are leaving the room” right by the switch
setting goals
write it down provides a clear direction of what to achieve set a motivation and incentive works best with feedback commitment is important
feedback
can see what you did good, how to improve or what to maintain
brings people closer to their goal
rewarding to see their goals being met
knowledge
ecological awareness is a powerful predictor of sustainable behaviour
works best if person already has the intention
more likely to act if the person understands
attitudes
people with positive attitudes only need to be reminded to act sustainably
without attitudes, they need to be persuaded
values
value-belief-norm model: values influence behaviour via beliefs and personal norms
pro-sustainable values: openness or change, concern for others
emotion
people can have string emotion toward nature and this triggers them to take action
environmental guilt predicts sustainable behaviour
fear-mongering: can be useful or backfire (helplessness)
self-efficacy
perceives ability to complete an action -> easy things you can do, they will more likely do it
TPB: perceived control
stronger factor than knowledge or attitude
attribution of responsibility
people need to feel responsible before acting
problem of the bystander effect: other people can do it. why should it be me?
anonymity effect: thinking that my effect is so small, so i’m not responsible, there’s nothing i can do
cognitive dissonance
two inconsistent states within the self
might rationalise our behaviour
can lead to attitude change to accommodate satiating one’s desire (so you don’t act environmentally proactively)
models for changing behavior
- applied behavioural analysis
2. elaboration likelihood model
applied behavioural analysis
approach
- focus on observable behaviour
- identify external factors that could improve behaviour
- use behavioural reinforcement methods
DO IT
define, observe, intervene, test
methods used in behaviour change interventions
Please Call DR SeuS Friend
- Promoting behaviour
- obtaining Commitments
- improve environmental Design
- offer Rewards/disincentives
- Self-efficacy
- establish sense of community & Social norms
- Foster individual-level care and concern
community-based social marketing (4 steps)
- identify barriers & benefits
- developing strategy
- implementation
- evaluation
strategies in community-based social marketing
CoCo PoP Is So Very Delicious
- personal Commitment
- establish Communication with communities
- Persuasion and marketing
- Prompts
- Incentives and disincentives
- Social norms
- Values
- improve environmental Design
new zealand didymo problem
invasive aquatic plant that clogs rivers and streams
spread by didymo on people’s boats
Check, Clean & Dry campaign started
successful
used CoCo Pop Is So Very Delicious
commitment (personal, ppl listen), communication (raise awareness, tell everyone), prompts (reminders), persuasion, incentives (otherwise fine), social norms (to protect the waters)
elaboration likelihood model
focus on
- learning characteristics of the target group
- communicate to group in an appropriate and familiar way
- persuasion
- change attitudes, implant a new social norm
- cause positive change in behaviour
ELM model details
- peripheral vs central
- motivation
- ability
central: more likely to change attitudes, more predictive of behaviour
peripheral: temporary shift
enforcement of protected areas
persuasion does not always work, use law enforcement
- costly (need to pay ppl)
- tends not to generate positive change
- can create avoidance and resistance (ppl don’t learn their lesson, they just get sour and angry)
+ effective in short term
+ restraining effect (just don’t do when ppl are looking)
+ enforcement of fines can raise money for conservation efforts
collective behaviour, community participation
- public hearing
- stakeholder negotiation
- participatory planning
eco team program
target intervention of household behaviour discussion sessions through social support to try and foster habitual behaviour change - effective - less water use - less natural gas - less electric consumption - less solid waste
social networks
identify social connections, find the strongest links (leaders, influential people), inject desired norms and values through these people
economic theory of externalities
environment is a common public good
when we buy a product, we pay for the value of the good, not the costs of producing the good (externalities)
how do we internalise externalities
- enforcing property rights (own land)
- auctioning use (hunting/fishing permits)
- charging/taxing for use (carbon tax)
incentives for sustainable transportation options
- take train/bus (make it more efficient, and cheaper)
- walk
- people prefer cars (but make it expensive)
most ppl think about themselves, their direct impact to themselves, what is the benefit to them not how it affects the environment
driving has more immediate rewards and less punishments
fare incentives
offer fare tickets with incentives, reward tokens increase usage
patrons get discounts and bus systems gain riders
structural barriers to transportation change
- low gas prices
- good highways
- home ownership
- change is difficult
HOV lanes
encourage car pooling, one lane for cars with more than 1 rider
waste and recycling numbers
waste could increase by 70% by 2025
recycling rates avg at 22% in developed countries, 1-3% in developing countries
how to improve recycling?
- well-designed recycling system
- improve knowledge
- understand environmental impacts of waste
recycling incentives
- Geller dorm study:
newspaper recycling, rewards increased recycling rates - Jacob household study:
offered rewards for curb side pickup, incentives produced small increases - good recycling system makes recycling easy
bottle bills
consumer pays a deposit with bottle purchase
deposit retuned when bottle is returned to the store
shown to reduce roadside litter
not sustainable (soft-drink industry find it more costly to reuse than to make new bottles)
cash for trash
get money for recycling (aluminium cans, metal tins, paper, cardboard, clothing, etc)
improving trash disposal
garbage collectors can alter incentive schemes to improve disposal efficiency
- Seattle: pay per (rubbish bin), if you have too much trash you have to pay more
incentive to lessen overall trash
reducing energy use
- energy price changes
- financial rewards
- simplification of tasks
energy pricing
- if pricing is included in rent, there is no incentive to conserve (rather you might use more to make you moneys worth)
- flat rate: use more pay more
- block rate: charge per block use (first 50kwh used, pay $, next 10, pay more)
- life-line usage: allocated the base amount. pay more is you use extra
- time-of-use: if you use during peak hour, pay more
financial incentives
- payouts to those reducing energy use or maintain at threshold
- but people are resistant to energy sacrifices that reduces comfort
- reducing use does not solve the core problem of inefficient homes
- therefore, making homes more energy efficient can reduce energy consumption by 30-50% while maintaining similar levels of comfort
weatherising a house
insulating your house
outside kept outside, inside kept inside
fitchburg action conserve energy (FACE)
improve homes that were poorly insulated in poor communities
community had little knowledge or money to improve the homes
government and volunteers formed to help
low-cost program, with low-effect (bc that’s all they could afford)
energy conservation program (Minneapolis)
- audit and FREE installation to houses
- guaranteed lower utility bills
- energy savings investment program can save substantial money
-> in the first 3 years consumer pay 75% of the savings, 4-5th year, pay 50% of energy savings
cover costs that’s why can improve the house for free
effective incentives
My Love Bird CHIRP
- Match incentive to barrier
- Large enough incentive (but not too large)
- draw attention to incentives and Behavioural problems
- Credible
- Hard to evade
- Information to identify barriers
- Reassess program
- Politically acceptable
problem with styrofoam
- overfilling landfills because it was non-biodegradable
- litter problem
- using CFCs that contribute to the depleting ozone
- chemical waste produced in the manufacturing process
- fear of styrene leaking into the food, it is a carcinogen, can cause cancer and other health problems
- macs used a lot of styrofoam packaging
McDonald’s styrofoam protest
public movement to reduce use of styrofoam
boycott Macs
used children as their picket line, because macs targetted families
Macs:
- 1988: say they will use another styrofoam that doesn’t use the harmful CFC
- 1988: attempted a plastic recycling program (to get on the environmentalists good side, but this was not successful)
- 1989: try to connect with environmentalist groups (a lot did not want to associate with macs) this was an attempt to repair their public image by saying that plastic isn’t even that bad for the environment but ppl still think plastic and styrofoam is bad
- 1990: surrender to public pressure, announce complete cessation of styrofoam
-
lessons learned from macs and styrofoam
- actions by consumers gives incentives to corporations
- chose an iconic target of pollution, styrofoam
- lobbied an easily accessible corporate target
- bc macs was consumer based, public action was meaningful, if public don’t support them then they lose their revenue
- corporate resistance to appeasing consumer sentiment can backfire
- public communication and credit of the actual events can be distorted
dangers of polystyrene
dangerous to those who produce styrene, higher exposure leads to higher risk
not much effect if you just use styrofoam boxes or eat out of them
difficulties in managing forest areas
- vast, difficult to monitor
- local communities may not adhere to rules
- governance and law enforcement is difficult
community forestry
- approach to give forest conservation into the hands of the communities that use its resources
- cooperation between gov and/or NGOs and forest communities
- community involved in management and land-use decision, play a major role in implementing the program -> this is what has been done in Kruger National Park
NGO for community forest management
- the centre for people & forests
- the rights and resources group
- harvest rattan to make furniture
- able to develop economy along the way in a sustainable manner
resource characteristics
- clear boundaries that stay within the community’s land use
- changes in resource can be monitored
- no easy substitutes for the resource (more dependent on it, the better so that they bother to sustain it and protect it)
- costly to migrate
- resource is manageable
community characteristics
- stable group
- limited population growth
- relatively closed group
- strong, enduring, well-connected social network
- shared norms
- share info
- members observe each other and enforce rules (so everyone is treated fairly and pulls their weight)
- able to resolve conflicts
- knowledgeable about the resource
rule characteristics
- rules are established and participatory creation and internalised
- rules are fair or all members
- group member observe each other and enforce rules (if someone is slacking, can tell them off, don’t need to wait for outside pressures)
- rule system excludes outsiders and restrains insiders
- rules can be changed to adjust to conditions
- built-in incentives, all can gain from using and conserving the resource
- easy to observe, identify and punish rule-breakers
- rules are protected by the community
marine protected areas
monitor and protect waters
fishing communities involved
Tanzanian fishermen
the community manage small marine areas
can observe harvest success and make decisions each season on where to allows fish to replenish
rotational harvest method
features of success:
- small, well-defined area
- cohesive communities
- fish population easy to monitor
- use informal enforcement such as ostracism if someone doesn’t follow the rules
Laemson National Park (Bang Ben Fishing community)
marine national park
protect parts of the sea and coastal area
Bang Ben
- many generations have lived there
- elect a community leader
- keep check on how boats are used, and fishing area
- have been living sustainably
- work with park officials (sometimes got conflicts)
- tsunami hit, rebuilt it better, external intervention io\pact the traditional ecological balance
Bwindi National Park
mountain gorilla
protected by Ugandan Wildlife Authority
Batwa pygmies we’re displaced and never received compensation
some other poor communities move in, refugees come in and deforest the land
area of severe conflict
Dian Fossey was murdered there
ecotourist programs are run there, conflicts between groups (local ppl, conversationalists)
types of social capital
- bonding social capital (relationship among residents)
- bridging social capital
- linking social capital (authorities and external agencies)
communities within the mayan biosphere
- itzaj
- ladinos
- q’eqchi
- all groups farm, hunt, extract timbre
- swidden plot: slash and burn, forest burned, land become sun fertile
- fallow plots: let it regenerate after harvesting
- forested area
value of plants among itzaj, ladinos, and q’eqchi
- itzaj: valued plants for their ecological centrality and number of utilities, sought to protect such plants, also wanted to protect other plants that impacted other animals not just directly to them
- ladinos: primarily valued plants for their value as a cash crop, only concerned with protecting these kinds of plants
- q’eqchi: most destructive to valuable plants, they don’t care
understanding of animals among itzaj & ladinos
both shared understanding of negative human-animal interactions related to milpa (swidden)crops
itzaj: more understanding of the use of wildlife and their role for forest regeneration, saw more how animals help plants
maine lobstermen
catching more lobster yet the lobster population continues to grow
- have territories that are managed by “harbour gangs”
- must be in a gang
- can only use traps that are licensed and ppl can check on yours
- if you trap is in my territory i will get rid of it
maine lobster state laws
- egg-bearing females cannot be taken
- cannot take lobster smaller than 3.25” body or larger than 5”
- can only use traps to catch
- cannot take v-notched females (super producers)
- zone management
education
- socialisation process
- transmission of knowledge
- develop individual capacities
- internalise norms and values
- develop,good citizens
environmental education
- related to environmental awareness
- develop ppl that are concerned and aware about the environment
- equip ppl with knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitments
- let them find solutions
Belgrade Charter
- workshop to develop environmental citizenship and ecological literacy
- goal is to develop a world population that is aware of and concerned about the environment
- improve ecological relationships
2 main objectives of Belgrade Charter
- clarify meaning of basic concepts such as “quality of life” and “human happiness” in the context of the environment
- identify actions that ensure the reservation and improvement of humanity’s potentials, develop social and individual well-being in harmony with biophysical and man-made environment
environmental education objectives
AKA SEP
- Awareness
- Knowledge
- Attitudes
- Skills
- Evaluation ability
- Participation
guiding principles of EE
Diyanah and I Totally Value WCP CF
- examine Development and growth
- Interdisciplinary
- consider environment in Totality (natural, ma made, ecological, political, etc.)
- Value: local, national and international cooperation
- examine form a World view but paying regard to regional differences
- Continuous life-long leaning
- Participation
- focus on Current and Future environmental situations
2 basic approaches of EE
- change attitudes
2. provide info
components of EE
ABC
affective: personal motivations, emotions, empathy, attachments, confidence in self-efficacy, commitment
behavioural: pro-environmental habits, activism, participation, actually enjoy it (not just doing for the sake of doing it), working to support wildlife
cognition: learning, awareness, knowledge and understanding
does education work?
- long term yes, short term no
- less effective at altering a person’s ethics and value systems, unless it is part of their inculcation as a youth
- less effective at instilling behaviour changes
energy conservation workshop study (Geller, 1981)
3 hour workshop teaching people how to reduce energy use in their homes
managed to change attitudes, beliefs, and generate commitment
but did not generate behavioural change
selling efficient appliances (Hutton, 1982)
- US dept of energy attempt to encourage purchase of efficient appliances
- advertise and market as saving energy costs in the long run
- ppl reported they were more aware and willing to pay more
- but behavioural results suggest otherwise
barriers to action
leads to a gap between mindset and actual behaviour
- ppl may have the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs
- but if it is deeply rooted into their lifestyles and backgrounds (unable to afford, formed a habit etc) then they won’t change their old ways
- if one does not have the means to put it into action, it does not matter how ,cub you teach them
causal model of resource consumption
1 resource using/saving behaviour 2 attention, behavioural commitment 3 knowledge 4 attitudes and beliefs 5 values and worldviews 6 external incentive sand constraints 7 household background
1-4: short term education good
1-5: long term education tackle
6&7: barriers
disseminating info
- bill stuffers: not effective, ppl don’t pay attention to additional info, just the amount to pay and move on
- brochures
- internet and social media
- mass media
3 ways to improve information transfer
- feedback — to see how one can improve and change
- modeling — present and example for ppl to follow
- framing — make the change sound beneficial to the person, not sacrificial
removing internal barriers
- reminders and prompts
- public commitment
- highlighting attitudes and norms
formal EE
kindergarten to college level
school courses, modules, degree programs
informal EE
unstructured education
spreading awareness to the public, voluntary learning
in zoos, parks, etc
can be through watching films or media
education for sustainable development
started following the UN conference on environment and development in Rio
make environment and economy non-mutually exclusive, can advance the economy while not putting the environment at stake
EE vs ESD
not equivalent but overlap
ESD lacks concern for ecological sensitivity and understanding
ESD has a political aim, aims to improve social injustice, environmental health, and the economy
similarities of EE and ESD
cuff the simp
- improve ecological Citizenship
- Understanding systems
- Forward looking
- Sense of place
- Inter-generational responsibility
- Multi-perspective
- Protecting the commons
ESD agenda
- life-long learning
- community engagement
- bridging social capital
- social and ecological justices
- moderation
- controlled economic development
- revaluing consumption
- sociocultural diversity
- democracy
goals of classroom EE
instill scientific and decision making skills
place-based learning
hands-on learning approach
aims to develop a lace attachment and sensitivity to the area
familiarity
foster interaction with the natural environment
biodiversity-focused education programs
- focus on one species
- immersive learning experience
goals: - conservation of the target species
- support research and learning about the species, habitat, and conservation needs
- educate
- establish and enforce laws
lessons from EE
- does work
- involving ppl has the most success
- better to start from young
- the longer the better
modelling complex systems
flawed system, computer models are supposed to understand and show us what is likely to happen but sometimes some of these predictions are too impossible, and this is bc systems are complex
chaos theory
under certain conditions, systems can behave chaotically, small changes can have large systemic impacts (butterfly effect)
chaos is the result on non-linearity, which can produce counterintuitive outcomes
disjointed incrementalism
- our societies consist of political and economic mechanism
- never know exactly what to do, trial-and-error
- by taking incremental steps, systems are managed even though they are incomplete —> small trial-and-error steps
- disjointed agencies and departments, need to work together, not just one person can manage everything
limitations of disjointed incrementalism
- long delay for feedback
- short and long-term solutions are contradictory
- agencies cannot control their problems if they lie outside their domain of jurisdiction
self-organisation
systems are self-regulatory
require 3 key mechanisms
- mechanism to produce diversity and new alternatives
- mechanism that selects superior alternatives
- mechanism to store and transmit information of the alternatives
stages of complex systems
- exploitation — exploring
- conservation — stability forms
- release — disruptive events cause damage
- reorganisation — regenerate and repair
characteristics of systems that can collapse
- long delays between cause and effect
- exponential growth
- possibility for irreversible damage
global computer model — world 3
first complex computer model that tried to input information and other factors to generate possible outcomes for our future
overshoot and collapse
- exponential growth
- carrying capacity is reached
- during overshoot, carrying capacity is reduced
- population and physical economy falls following that
- was predicted that this will occur in the next 100 years
flaws in overshoot and collapse
- neglects difficulties to quantify factors
- gave values to things that we don’t even know
- over simplified
- feedback loops that we do not understand
- not probabilistic, but deterministic
- ignored future changes that could change carrying capacity
- ignored technology advances
behind the limits
- team argued that we have alr entered overshoot
- addressed criticisms
- model still predicted overshoot and collapse
limits to growth 30 year update
current world shows signs of overshoot
see signs of severe climate and sea change, poverty, extinction, declining gdp, have alr reached and overshot the carrying capacity
limits to growth 40 year forecast
- human population peak around 2030
- growth productivity slow
- consumption will stagnant
- energy efficiency will increase, demand for energy rise
- CO2 emissions will peak in 2030
recommendations:
- have less children
- reduce ecological footprint
- construct low-carbon energy system
- generate more forward looking institutions to reduce problems of short-term trial-and-error policy processes
climate models
based on historical change and are judged by their ability to reproduce these historical features
- simplification of the real world but can aid us in understanding complex systems
- stimulate how energy and matter cycle through the climate system
- we set the variables, parameters and mathematical relationships
hind-casting
how well does the model match to known historical conditions
what are scenarios
plausible trajectories
the goal of working with scenarios is not to predict the future but to better understand uncertainties and alternative futures
energy conservation in Hood River
social science research program that worked in improving the efficiency of residential energy consumption through social networking
homes were weatherised
received audit and home improvements, community lowered avg energy usage, 43% predicted savings
success factors:
- commitment by major corporation and network of organisations
- social networking and recruitment reached ppl
- participatory decision making
- community was not too large
- financial incentive
-
recovery of Chek Jawa
set to be reclaimed in 2001
nature groups raise awareness, public education
reclamation deferred
success factors:
- swift response
- public response, community interest
- gov concern
- stakeholders on board
recycling in St. Paul
proposed a curb side recycling program funded by increase in tax worked closely with block leaders who promoted the program telemarketing and brochures pay per can fee to reduce trash 60-70% of the citizens recycled
success factors:
- improved environmental attitudes
- social networks (communication)
- use influential people
- financial incentives to reduce trash
- community education (knowledge)
- lessened external barriers to recycling, made it easier
