Psychological Principles of Inducing Behaviour Change

Abstract

In the comprehensive typology of instruments for promoting sustainable development presented above, the instruments described are attempts to induce behaviour change. How the behaviour of others can be changed has been a central issue in the field of psychology since its beginnings. Psychologists have dealt with inducing behaviour change in various contexts - form psychotherapy, education, and marketing to military training and political manipulation. In this chapter, we discuss the basic possibilities of changing the behaviour of others and develop a comprehensive and internally consistent psychological view of environmentally relevant behaviour change. We focus on the analysis of those principles upon which the instruments presented in the typology are based. We do not intent to present a synopsis of all psychological theories and empirical findings relevant to the issue, nor do all our thoughts represent the consensus view of the discipline. Following an introduction, we discuss a number of external interventions and analyse the internal psychological effects of these interventions. This is followed by a look at the conditions of efficacy and acceptance of the different attempts to induce behaviour change. The chapter concludes with a summary.