Conservation psychology and climate change

Abstract

For society to adapt to the challenge of climate change it is important to understand people’s behavioral responses. As a discipline focused on human health and behavior, psychology has begun to examine this issue. Decades of research on sustainable behavior have identified a number of barriers that inhibit effective action. These include cognitive barriers: our ways of processing information can make it difficult to recognize the climate change threat. Emotional barriers are a consequence of our desire to maintain a generally positive mood. Finally, social barriers can result from the ways in which climate change is represented within a society. Research has also examined interventions that can motivate people to engage, such as social feedback and messages that highlight group identity. A growing body of research illuminates the connections between human wellbeing and planetary wellbeing, reminding us that protecting the environment is also protecting ourselves.