Week 12 - Environmental Psychology

Question 1

Environmental psychology

Answer 1

Interdisciplinary field of study that examines the complex interrelationships between individuals and their physical and virtual settings

Question 2

Lewin’s field theory

Answer 2

Behaviour is a function of the combination of the person and the forces in the surrounding environment of field.

Question 3

Environmental cues

Answer 3

elements in the environment that convey information that triggers affective reactions

Question 4

what are the 3 goals that influence normative behaviour

Answer 4

normative goal = to act appropriately
hedonic goal = to feel better right now
gain goal = to guard and improve one’s resources

Question 5

Personal space

Answer 5

Interpersonal area surrounding a person’s body, undefined by visible boundaries, and determined by circumstance, distance, angle or orientation and type of interaction

Question 6

Proexmics

Answer 6

study of the perception, use, and communication of personal space

Question 7

Crowding

Answer 7

a personally defined subjective experience of too many people in a given space

Question 8

Territoriality

Answer 8

A pattern of behaviour and attitudes held by an individual or group based on perceived, attempted, or actual control of a definable space, object, or idea by means of habitual occupation, defence, personalisation, and demarcation

Question 9

what are the 3 types of territoriality?

Answer 9

• primary
• secondary
• tertiary

Question 10

Primary territoriality

Answer 10

Space owned or controlled on a relatively permanent basis e.g. home, bedroom

Question 11

Secondary territoriality

Answer 11

space used regularly where control is less important; often shared e.g. desk at work, favourite seat in class

Question 12

Tertiary territoriality

Answer 12

public area open to anyone e.g. beaches, footpath

Question 13

Place attachment

Answer 13

affective bonds we form with place (intersection of people and their physical, virtual, or imaginary setting)

Question 14

Schannell and Gifford’s (2010 tripartite framework dimensions

Answer 14

person: individual + collectively based meanings
place: physical components and social aspects
process: how people attach psychologically to places and how they express it

Question 15

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 15

Depletion of a shared resource due to individuals, acting to further their own interest, behaving in a manner which is contrary to the common group of the group

Question 16

Climate change

Answer 16

long-term shifts in temperatures and weather pattens primarily due to human activities such as fossil fuels

Question 17

Attitudes and attitude change

Answer 17

Source: credible/attractive sources
Message: humour versus fear
audience: need for cognition

Question 18

heuristics

Answer 18

people use easily accessible judgements as opposed to less accessible ones

Question 19

Availability heuristics

Answer 19

If relevant weather events are accessible/come to mind, they influence our perceptions

Question 20

Affect heuristic

Answer 20

Mental shortcut in which people make decisions heavily influenced by their current emotions

Question 21

group processes

Answer 21

• stereotype each other in ingroup-favouring ways
• use of ingroup messengers to increase norm conformity
• use of superordinate goals to reduce intergroup conflict

Question 22

Psychological barriers to action (Gillford, 2011)

Answer 22

• Limited cognition - ignorance / uncertainty
• Comparisons with others - social comparision
• Perceived risks - physical, fincaial etc
• Sunk costs - finacial cost, aspirations etc.
• Ideologies - worldview
• Discredence - mistrust
• Limited behaviour - tokenism, rebound effect

Question 23

Norms

Answer 23

desciptive norms - what is done
injunctive norms - what ought to be done

Question 24

What did Cialdini’s 2008 study find?

Answer 24

Found that descriptive norms (person’s perspective of how people typically behave) was most effective

Question 25

Attitude-behaviour models

Answer 25

theory of planned behaviour applied to recycling (attitudes, subjective norm/pressure from others, identity)

Question 26

Helping behaviours

Answer 26

• extending models of helping to nonhuman other (living organisms and nature)
• personal norms for helping (moral obligation)

Question 27

What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?

Answer 27

more empathetic individuals reported greater concern for the harmful consequences of environmental problems and also higher levels of pro-environmental behaviour

Question 28

Green consumerism

Answer 28

Younger people are generally more willing to pay more for environmentally safe products

Question 29

what is green consumerism challenged by?

Answer 29

The motive for status recognition (what brands people want to be seen purchasing)