In search of the hyphen: Thirty-five years of environmental psychology in Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

We present a historical and theoretical-methodological panorama of the studies by Grupo de Estudos Pessoa-Ambiente (People-Environment Research Group, GEPA) and their inclusion in the context of environmental psychology. The authors expressed the theoretical-methodological diversity of the area, presented here in terms of the psychological aspects of the relationships between people, climate change and renewable energy sources, underscoring the invisibility and instantaneity of energy; the psychologysustainability interface, which investigates the psychosocial dimensions of pro-ecological and pro-environmental behaviors; rurality, denoting the scarcity of instrumental and theoretical perspectives that bring psychology and the sociocultural specificities observed closer together; cities, in which studies reveal the tension between the capitalist production of space and the right to the city; and daily settings, which focus on housing, schools and open areas, proposing concepts such as a socioenvironmental image and psychological accessibility. We conclude by showing the connection between group activity and the stresses, developments and challenges faced by the field at the global level.